Who Says Violence Doesn't Solve Anything?
by sky of c-o-l-o-r-s
Summary: Meet Hisagi Mahiro. Violent, somewhat bloodthirsty delinquent. Meet Sawada Tsuna. Her best friend and sometimes punching bag. Mahiro arrives in Namimori, hoping to turn over a new leaf and live life as a normal non-violent girl and hang with her best friend but then problems arise putting a dent in her plans... mafia problems. What's a bloodthirsty girl to do?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I really shouldn't be starting new fanfics but this idea has been in my mind for a while now. :(

* * *

**Chapter 1**

* * *

"Training? We're not here for a picnic?" Tsuna asked as he took in the surroundings. They were up in the mountains with Dino's men along and Reborn.

"We've traveled all the way to Japan to see my cute little brother," Dino said as he brandished a a whip, "so I thought I could pass down my whip handling skills to you."

"EH?" Tsuna shrunk back waving his hands furiously. "Er. Um. I don't think I'll need a weapon," he said weakly.

Dino handed his whip to him. "Have it. It's my old one."

"Dino-san's old whip..." Tsuna commented with awe. The Cavallone 10th generation boss might be useless without his men but he was really strong with his whip when his men were present. Like a blow hard cowboy acting tough in front of his compadres. That's why he was called Bucking Bronco Dino.

"Here try it. It's fun," the Cavallone boss said as he took out his snapping turtle, Enzio out of his jacket and uncapped a plastic water bottle, pouring the water onto the turtle. "First you put water on Enzio, the sponge snapping turtle."

"Eh? But if you put water on Enzio..."

"His size and aggressiveness varies on the amount of water you pour onto him," Dino explained. "He will be your sparring partner."

"Whaaat?" The snapping turtle which had once been small enough to fit the palm of Dino's hand grew larger but only to half the size of Reborn. Even though his size was not very intimidating, the spikes protruding from his back along with the speed he used to close the distance between him and Tsuna was scary enough.

"Don't worry, without anymore water, he won't grow any larger. When things get dangerous, my family will come and help you," Dino assured, hands in his pockets.

"Wah! He's pretty fast!" Tsuna shrieked, "HIEEK! Go away!" He waved the whip around randomly, smacking Enzio and sending him flying...

Dino grinned as Enzio sailed through the sky. "Hey! You have good instincts."

...Into a well.

"Hmm? Where did he fall?" Dino asked.

"That's a well," his men replied.

"...Well? Crap, Tsuna! Get away from there!" Dino and his family snapped into action as Enzio burst out of the well sending rock and debris flying everywhere.

"Uwahhhh!" Tsuna cried, standing right in front of the humongous snapping turtle.

* * *

It had been seven years since she had last visited Namimori. As far as she could see, things were still the same. The same buildings, the same streets, the same people. Nothing had changed much over the years. She made her way down the street and came to a stop as she reached the white wall with a bronze plate declaring the household: Sawada.

She grinned, anticipation buzzing through her body at the reunion with her childhood friend. She ringed the door bell and didn't have to wait long as Nana Sawada answered the door.

"Ah, are you one of Tsu-kun's friends? I'm sorry but he's not home right now. He got injured and is staying at the hospital for now," Nana explained.

"Mama, it's me, Hisagi Mahiro," she introduced. Of course Nana wouldn't recognize her now after seven years. Back then she was a short and pudgy six year old who was often mistaken for a boy with her short hair and the various bandages she sported, not to mention her incredible strength. Now here she was, seven years later, not at all like the little tomboy back then with her caramel colored hair now long and in two braids, and wearing a skirt. She never wore skirts in the past.

"Mahiro-chan!" She was quickly pulled into a hug. "It's been so long since I've seen you! You're so pretty now! How's Kiyomi-chan and the family?"

"Mom's in America for her job and everyone's doing fine. Masa, Mana, and Sumire are in college right now. Jun's on a school trip," Mahiro answered.

Her mother, Hisagi Kiyomi had been best friends with Nana Sawada back in high school and the two still were friends. Many times when she was younger, her mother had brought her and Jun over to play with Nana's son, Tsuna, who was the same age as Mahiro. They all got along well even though Mahiro would often abuse Tsuna, annoyed at his meekness. She never hit him too hard though and they always made up afterwards. You could say that they acted more like siblings than just playmates.

"My, my. It's been so long since I've last talked with Kiyomi-chan. Would you like to come in and have a drink, Mahiro-chan?"

Mahiro shook her head. "If Tsuna's in the hospital, I should go and visit him."

"Yes, that's a good idea. Just imagine the look on his face when he realizes that the Mahiro-niichan that he looked up to is actually Mahiro-neechan." Nana giggled. Younger Tsuna had never seemed to get it into his head that his best friend was actually a girl.

"Maybe I should bring a camera and take a picture."

Nana tittered behind her hand, near tears in laughter. "Have fun, Mahiro-chan! You should join us for dinner some time."

"Some time, Mama. See ya." She headed straight for the hospital. Before she got on the train, she'd already studied a map of Namimori and memorized all the streets and locations just so that she wouldn't get lost. She ran her hands down the wrinkled front of her previous schools uniform, and scowled self consciously at the mental image of her appearance. She hadn't had time to change out of it before catching a ride to Namimori. Luckily for her, all her luggage had been sent ahead to her new home so she didn't have to carry anything with her. Mahiro shrugged, deciding not to bother. It would get too late in the day now if she made a trip to her new house for a change of clothing. A sly feline smile crept over her dusky features; and now to buy Tsuna a get well gift. She mused silently, making her way down the street.

* * *

"This won't do Sawada-san! Please don't invite visitors who might seduce our nurses!"

"It's not fault they got seduced!" Tsuna cried. It really wasn't his fault that the nurses fell for Yamamoto's, Gokudera's, and Dino's looks. It was their own faults, really. The head nurse seemed to have her eye out for him and was at the end of her patience.

"If it were up to me, you'd be out of here by now. But at the request of a patient, you'll be sharing a room with him," the nurse motioned for him to follow her.

"Eh? I'm being moved again?" He thought he'd finally have some peace and quiet in the hospital but with Reborn and Dino and everyone else showing up, his hospital stay was anything but. _But wait... a patient's request... who could it be?_ he wondered. Just what kind of person would request for him to be their roommate, having heard all the commotion concerning him from earlier.

A few more steps and the head nurse announced, "Here it is." She inched away from the room already walking away but without the same personality from earlier. She looked... scared? "So I will be... leaving now." And then the head nurse, for lack of a better word, _scuttled_ away.

He ignored the nurse's strange behavior and opened the door to see a certain scary prefect in the spacious hospital room.

"Hey." Tsuna blanched.

"Hibari-san! No way! Eh! Why are you in the hospital!" exclaimed Tsuna who felt less well by the second because one of the scariest person he knew was staring him down from a hospital bed.

"I caught a little cold," he answered nonchalantly. "I was playing a game to get over my boredom, but everyone was too weak." Hibari sat on his bed wearing black pajamas, his hair messy. Lying at his feet were a few patients knocked out cold.

Tsuna turned even paler.

"What! What happened here?" Tsuna managed to stammer out as per his straight man role.

"I had my roommates join me for a game." Hibari's emotionless pale face held a faint sneer that Tsuna found terrifying. In fact, Tsuna felt his balls contract into his pelvis as Hibari continued speaking in a chillingly soft and sinister voice.

"The rules were easy." Out of thin air he pulled his silver tonfas. "If anyone made a sound while I slept, I'd bite them to death."

Scary!

"How one sided! How can this happen in a hospital!" Tsuna couldn't stay in that room. He'd rather be anywhere than there with the chance of being beaten to death by the head prefect of Namimori Middle school.

He backed away from the prefect and towards the door. "Um, I, I'm feeling better now. I... I don't need to be hospitalized anymore!"

"That's not possible, you'll need the doctor's permission." As if planned by the universe; the door behind him slid open to reveal an elderly man with a thin mustache and perfectly coiffed hair wearing a doctor's coat.

"Hey director," Hibari greeted.

"Director!" Tsuna asked stiffly, feeling his legs threaten to give beneath his weight.

"It's because of Hibari-kun that the hospital can run so smoothly. Sacrifices or whatever, we're at your command," explained the director, bowing quickly._ WTF! He came in just to make this moment worse?Even the hospital's in on my cosmic misery!_

Tsuna's jaw dropped, then he closed it himself. Hibari really had a lot of control around Namimori, Tsuna thought glumly.

"I'll be taking a nap then." Hibari yawned, flopping back into his bed. "By the way, even the sound of a falling leaf will wake me up."

"Wha-!" Tsuna jerked like a kicked puppy.

"Well, take care," the director quickly excused himself leaving Tsuna all alone with the scary prefect. Well, at least in here he'll manage to steal some peace and quiet to himself he thought. Tsuna was just starting to feel the knots of stress melting in the silence before the door slid open to reveal both Lambo and I-pin. Lambo pulled out grenades. I-pin activated her Pinzu timed super explosion. Before Tsuna could find the time to scream, his body moved quickly and swiftly on it's own divesting Lambo of his dangerous bombs, and as for I-pin...

_Fuck my ass like a chicken pot pie!_! Tsuna shrieked silently, while his body picked up the tiny child and ran down the hallway as fast as he could to throw her out of the window just before she exploded in midair. "Phew!" he said as he wiped the sweat from his brow. He entered his room again and gave a sigh of relief to see that Hibari was still asleep. Quietly, he crawled over to his bed but bumped into a vase and caught it before it hit the ground. Tsuna sighed again but his relief was short lived as a leaf from Hibari's flowers fell onto the desk, waking him up. "N-No way!"

* * *

"This is the room?"

The head nurse nodded. "Sawada-san along with another patient is staying here so please be careful, young lady. I'll be going now."

Mahiro watched as the nurse quickly scuttled out of sight. What was she so afraid of anyways? It couldn't possibly be Tsuna could it? Nah, that was impossible. There wasn't anything remotely intimidating about Tsuna that could instill fear like that in some one. At least not that she knew. She slid open the door, the well oiled slots making the action as silent as, well, Mahiro when she wanted to lurk(because sneaking implies a cowardly intent, and Mahiro tore the nose piercing out of the last yankee bitch to call her a coward. Not to mention, lurking was waiting in shadows, preparing to visit hell on the unwary and that was one of the favorite past times she _used_ to indulge in, because Mahiro was trying to turn over a new leaf. _And in a few years, she'll be tried as an adult_) with that in mind, she moved further into the room and came upon a black haired male sleeping in the bed right across from her.

Mahiro sniffed, her dark eyes growing flat at the familar scent of dried blood and barely leashed violence. Her hands flexed at her sides, the thick discolored calluses over her knuckles stretching painfully. Here, she mused, here is someone _interesting_. Mahiro entertained a brief mad, blood-thirsty, desire to wake up this sleeping beast. To indulge in a balls to the wall, desperate fight that Mahiro just knew that this sleeping menace would deliver. Mahiro was already slinking forward, her heart beat drumming through her ears, hands loose and ready at her sides, ready to deliver a testing blow on this new challenging opponent. And then she sucked in a startled breath, air whistling silently through her bared teeth at the dry voice cutting through here and now.

"_Dame_ Tsuna. You really can't stop causing trouble around the hospital can you?" She turned to her left to see a baby wearing a black suit and fedora sitting on a chair beside her childhood friend who was whimpering in pain, silently. Mahiro forced her body to come back from it's thrumming adrenaline high, forced herself not to bare her teeth like the beast that always stalked so close to the surface of her self.

Tsuna winced as he tried to sit up in bed. "It's not funny Reborn and be quiet or you'll wake up Hibari-san." He looked past Reborn to see a pretty girl with long golden brown hair braided into two thick braids, one hanging over her shoulder and one hanging behind her. She wore a black school uniform, the blazer unbuttoned revealing her loose green tie and tucked in white buttoned down shirt. She wore her skirt lower than the girls at Namimori. Where theirs were about three inches above the knee, hers were exactly one inch above and she wore long black socks that covered her legs. In her hands she held a gift basket of fruit.

She waved a little bit stiffly at him. "Hi."

Tsuna spluttered. It couldn't be could it? It was highly impossible, improbable for it to happen, but even so he asked the question not aware of the volume of his voice. "You're Hibari-san's girlfriend!"

The girl frowned.

Mahiro glanced at the other patient before turning back her attention to Tsuna, a cold smile on her face. She'd expected him to not recognize her but to call her someone's girlfriend? "You," she said. "Where did you even get the idea that I'm with that guy?" She pointed between herself and the guy lying in bed. "No good, Tsuna. It's been seven years and the first thing you do is say I'm some random person's girlfriend. You haven't changed a bit."

"Eh! D-Do I know you?" Tsuna asked. Reborn merely watched as the reunion unfolded.

"Can I punch you? Can I really punch you?" She set the basket down and cracked her knuckles.

As the strange girl neared, suddenly the scene felt familiar. _Seven years ago, six year old Tsuna was lying on the ground, pudgy hands cradling his cheek, trying to keep his tears from coming. Another boy his age stood over him, hands on his hip, dark eyes boring into him. "Oi, stop crying. Boys aren't supposed to cry this easily. Do you want to be called no good all your life?" the boy asked._

"_B-but, I can't help it," the Tsuna whimpered. The caramel haired boy cracked his knuckles, small grin on his face. "Can I punch you? Can I really punch you?"_

"Ma-Mahiro-niichan!" Tsuna called out hands pointing at her. "But.. you're a girl.." he finished weakly.

"Oh, good you remembered. I'm glad I don't need to add anymore injuries to you. What the hell happened?"

Tsuna froze as Hibari sat up in bed, tonfas at the ready. "You woke me up again, herbivore."

"HIIIEE-!" his scream was cut off as Mahiro slapped her hand over his mouth.

She removed her hand when she was sure he wouldn't shriek again. She leaned against the wall, placing the basket on a nearby desk, sighing. "Tsuna is still Tsuna." She glanced up to meet the prefect's gaze. "Hiya there, mister. How 'bout you lay back down in bed and refrain from hitting anyone with those nasty sticks?" Mahiro tried for a polite smile, but at the way how Tsuna cringed away from her, Mahiro surmised that it was more of a snarl.

"The herbivores are crowding again," was all he said.

"Ciaossu," Reborn decided to interfere. The new character piqued his interest. Who was this girl who scared his charge and yet had his admiration?

"Baby," Hibari acknowledged. "Don't interfere or I'll bite you all to death." A strange fury was brewing in Hibari's stomach, his stocky hands clenching his tonfa's tightly at the blatantly feral smile the girl directed his way.

Reborn ignored the terse words."Hibari-san, put your weapons away. I want to talk to Tsuna's friend. I'm thinking of having her join the family."

"Ehhh! No, Reborn you c-" Reborn kicked an unsuspecting Tsuna, shutting him up.

"Shut up, Tsuna. I'm trying to talk here."

Tsuna could only mumbled out a weak, "Reborn..."

Mahiro bent down to check his injuries. The baby was merciless, kicking an already injured person. She whistled. Someone had done a number on him. Was he getting bullied again?

"Hn. Do what you want." The prefect made no move to put his weapons away, settling on glaring at the herbivores in his room.

The baby turn his attention to her and pointed a green pistol at her head. The girl didn't even blank. "Who are you and how do you know _dame_ Tsuna?"

She cocked her head to the side. "How is it a possible that a baby can converse so intellectually? I'm sure you're only about two years old. Kids these days have such cool toys."

_Bang._

"R-Reborn!"

The tip of the gun was smoking and the bullet that was shot was embedded in the wall behind the girl. The bullet had grazed Mahiro's cheek, setting a trail of blood dripping down her cheek.

"I'm the one asking the questions here," he said, blowing the smoke away.

"Mahiro-san, are you alright?" Tsuna asked. When was Reborn going to ever stop dragging his friends into the mafia business? Not anytime soon, he concluded as Reborn went on with questioning his childhood friend.

She wiped the blood away with the sleeve of her blazer, glad that her uniform was black and that the blood wouldn't show. But then even if it wasn't noticeable it would dry and cause the cloth to become stiff. Remembering the days earlier events, she took off the jacket and grabbed a water bottle from the fruit basket. Uncapping it, she poured it onto the coat and watched as pink liquid dripped down from it. There was more blood than she'd expected. "Oh, I need to get rid of this." She looked up at the baby, meeting his beady black eyes. "I'm Hisagi Mahiro, Tsuna's childhood friend. And you?"

"I'm his home tutor, Reborn." The baby smirked, idea forming in his mind. "Hibari, you can fight Mahiro here. She's partly the reason for waking you up from your nap."

"Eh?" Mahiro asked just as a tonfa slammed into the spot where her head used to be. She slid down against the wall before rolling out of the second tonfa's way.

"R-Reborn! What are you doing?" Tsuna spluttered as he watched his childhood friend avoid the attacks.

Out of nowhere, the baby had a cup of coffee in his hands and sipped from it. "It's her test to see if she's fit for your family. If she beats Hibari, she'll join the family. If she doesn't, then she dies."

"But I don't want Mahiro to be part of the family!"

"Too late."

Mahiro ducked and sidestepped the attacks again. It was a surprise that the prefect hadn't broken anything in the room yet, with all the wild swings he threw. All she wanted to do was visit her childhood friend but what does she get? A talking baby and a bloodthirsty patient trying to kill her. Mahiro disregarded the fact that she was planning on attacking the bloodthirsty patient in provoking him into a beserker fight just a few minutes ago. She had only just reconnected with her childhood friend, she didn't want to scare Tsuna into wetting his pants like she did when they were kids within fifteen minutes of their reunion. She eyed the door to the hallway for escape but quickly ruled it out as Hibari(that was his name right?) blocked her way. The only other way of escape was the window, which was several stories high. That was no good. If she jumped from this height, she'd surely die.

She twisted her body to avoid another attack before slinking her right leg behind him and sweeping his legs from under him. He lost his balance but quickly regained it and swung at her again, his attacks not letting up, if anything, the speed of which he swung those things increased as did the force behind it. She grabbed the black coat she had previously dropped and quickly put into action her plan for escape. She tossed the jacket at him, obstructing his view, and raced out of the door but not before saying goodbye. "Bye Tsuna, I'll come over for dinner tomorrow and then we'll catch up!" She slammed the door shut just as Hibari recovered and ran like hell down the stairs and out of the hospital not looking back.

She panted, trying to catch her breath. Lots of people had tried to hurt her before but not to that extent. He was really a scary guy with all the metal tonfas and the power he put into each swing. If she had gotten hit, she probably would've ended up the same way as Tsuna. But...Mahiro tested the strength in her wiry legs, a slow burning fury igniting in the pit of her belly. She balled her fists, the thick calluses stretching, he was scary. She acknowledged, and those metal tonfa's would've hurt her, but what was pain but salt on the meat of battle? She stopped running, and bit back a strangled scream of humiliation and frustration.

"Fuuck" Mahiro hissed. "If only Tsu-kun wasn't there, I would have pummeled his bones into splinters. Fuck! Fuck! Fuuu-uck!" She punctuated each fuck with a kick at the graffiti-ed wall. When the entire wall was reduced to a mess of rubble, and dust coated her unharmed leg and uniform like a mochi sweet, Mahiro felt calm enough to walk home and reminisce about her day.

Because today had been a day filled with excitement. Not only was it the day that she moved to Namimori and met Tsuna again but her old school had held a goodbye party for her. A goodbye party that didn't include drinks and snacks but fists, metal poles, broken bones, and ambulances. Tokyo was a funny place.

Mahiro sighed. She didn't ever want to meet that Hibari guy ever again. She'd dealt with enough delinquents and violent people in Tokyo, she didn't want to deal with that kind of stuff anymore even though she did love to hear the crunch of a noses and broken bones beneath her fist. Besides, if she didn't keep a low profile, the others would find her and complicate her life again.

She silently repeated that last over and over, ignoring how her thoughts keep drifting back to the fierce, merciless attacks of that Hibari bastard.

* * *

"I want to fight her again."

"HIIIEEE! H-Hibari-san!" Tsuna squealed. He was glad that Mahiro had gotten away but now Hibari wanted to fight her!

"You will," Reborn assured. "Congratulations, Tsuna. Mahiro is now apart of your family."

"But she doesn't even know about the mafia! How could you do this, Reborn! First you drag Yamamoto-kun, Haru, and Kyoko-chan into this and now Mahiro!"

The doors slid open as a furious head nurse stood in the doorway. "Sawada-san, this is the last straw, if you can't keep quiet you'll be kicked out. Come along, we're moving you into a new room."

"A-again!"

As Tsuna was hauled away by the nurse, Reborn remained and picked up the jacket Mahiro had left behind, it was still wet from the water she had poured on it earlier and her squeezed the liquid out, watching as the red water dripped. "Tsuna's got an interesting family member."

* * *

**A/N:** Care to leave a review? What do you think about Mahiro?


	2. Wearing a tie comes in handy

**A/N: Yay, chapter 2 is finally done. I spent three whole days working on it. Hope you enjoy**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

* * *

"And there we go," she announced, having finished the braid. She looked at her reflection in the full length mirror, looking for any imperfections. It was going to be her first day at her new school. She fixed the red tie from the boy's school uniform around the collar of her shirt instead of the red bow from the girl's uniform. She wore the Namimori uniform just like her old one. The navy blue skirt, exactly one inch above her knees with her white buttoned down shirt tucked in. Underneath the skirt she wore black shorts and thigh high black socks.

"From today on, you're just a regular girl. Just a regular girl who doesn't know how to fight. A regular girl." She repeated the words over and over again in her mind, trying to make them true. Coming to Namimori was a break from the wild and violent life of being delinquent. Well, she wasn't exactly a delinquent. She didn't have any problems with truancy nor was she failing in any of her classes. The only thing about her that could label her as a delinquent was her craving for violence and the numerous fights she had gotten in. Which she had all won, thank you very much.

It wasn't like she hated her lifestyle, no in fact, she loved it. She reveled in the chance to make some one bleed, to hear their groans of pain, to hear the tell tale crunch of a bone being broken beneath her foot. How they'd pick a fight, underestimating her prowess just because she was 5'4'' and a girl and then in the end, be squirming under her mirthful eyes begging for mercy. It was fun and exhilarating but all good things must come to an end, right?

Right?

She'd made a deal with her mother(who was currently in the States for a job). If Mahiro was able to restrain herself from disemboweling anyone, she would get to live on her own, all expenses paid by her mother. The most important thing that Mahiro had to do was _try_, try being the operative word here, to keep a low profile. Big fights with lots of hospitalized delinquents would raise alarms everywhere, especially in Tokyo now that one of its terrors has disappeared. Her second eldest bro, who was currently training to become a police officer, would be able to tell that it was all her doing and then he'd send the eldest to pick her up. No way in hell was she going back to all those touchy feel-y people. She wanted, no NEEDED her personal space and she WOULD get it. She loved fighting but she loved peace and quiet just as much. Truthfully she was a pacifist, but pacifism never seemed to get the job done for her. Violence always did and she grew to love it. It was a deal that she had made and she would try her best to fulfill her part of the bargain.

No, she amended silently. She would keep her end of the deal, because the thought of being found by her clingy siblings was more terrifying than the sheer boredom sure to be found in the life of the ordinary girl. Mahiro loved her siblings, even though she was often overshadowed by them. But she could care less about that. What she hated was her siblings' sister complex. They were always spoiling her and always constantly worrying. She barely had any breathing space around them and because of their unwarranted attention, people began flocking to her, the youngest of the Hisagi family. Those who were scorned by her siblings or just plain resentful, tried to take out their frustrations on her. Tried. All who dared raise a hand against Mahiro had ended up in the hospital. This didn't affect her siblings unconditional affection. It didn't seem to matter to them that she'd put several full grown men and sometimes women, into traction(she'd heard lately that at least one of them was able to chew his own food now) and have sent countless other bastards to the hospital. In their eyes, she was still, and always would be that little brat tagging behind their heels. To put it simply, their love for her was SUFFOCATING.

So yes, Mahiro would keep her end of the bargain, of the deal she made with her mother. She would put a leash on her war mongering ways, and she would not draw any unwarranted attention from her brother in the force with her victims.

Smoothing down a strand of hair that was sticking out of her braids, she grabbed her school bag, ready to head out and meet up with Tsuna. She made her her way to his house without a hitch, and rung the doorbell waiting patiently for them to answer. From behind she heard a click, and jumped to the side just in time as a bullet hit the place where she had been standing.

"Ciaossu!"

Mahiro felt her eyelid twitch. It was the same baby who had shot at her before, not to mention sicked the crazy hound Hiba-something at her the other day at the hospital.

"Replay. Wait... Reborn, right?" she asked. The baby smirked. An explosion was heard from the story above and after a few seconds, loud steps were heard coming from behind the door before it swung open to reveal a bedraggled Tsuna, panting heavily.

"R-Reborn!" he gasped for breath and jumped as Mahiro greeted him.

"Morning Tsuna!"

"M-Mahiro! What are you doing here!" She didn't waste her breath answering as Reborn did that for her, kicking Tsuna in the process.

"She's here to walk to school with you, _dame_ Tsuna."

"Eh?" Realization set in as Tsuna pointed at Mahiro. "EH! Y-You're attending Namimori, too!" This was bad. This was seriously bad. If Hibari saw her, he was going to attack her!

Mahiro gave an exasperated sigh. "Yes, Tsuna. What's the big problem. Haven't you always wished we could go to the same school together?"

"U-Uh, yeah... but this is a surprise! I didn't think I'd see you again.."

"So are you coming or what? I wake up this early just to walk with you to school and you're just gonna stand there like a stump?. Do I _need_ to put you back in the hospital?" Tsuna gulped, swallowing a lump in his throat. Mahiro chortled at his expression, clutching her stomach. "Haha, Tsuna you're so funny! After all these years, you're still afraid of me? Really?"

"Uh..." was the reply of petrified Tsuna.

"Come on, it was a joke, a joke." Mahiro said exasperatedly hooking her arm around his wiry shoulders.

She wasn't really kidding about that though. Maybe a little smack here or a punch there but not enough to put him in the hospital. Sure, she didn't like waking up so early but hey, he was her best friend after all. She gave him a pat on the head, which he didn't flinch at. Mahiro smiled proudly, _atta-boy Tsuna_. She added a quick tousle to the pat. Loud, clamoring footsteps heralded the visitors.

"Good morning, Juudaime!"

"Yo, Tsuna!"

"Ah, Gokudera! Yamamoto! Morning!" Tsuna greeted the new arrivals. Mahiro studied the two, arms crossed against her chest. One of them was tall and short black hair, the other had silver hair parted in the middle and was shorter than the other one. Currently, he was glaring daggers at her.

"Juudaime, who is this woman?" he pointed at her.

"Pointing's rude you know," she drawled.

"Er, that's-..." Tsuna stammered.

"She's Tsuna's new family member, Hisagi Mahiro," Reborn answered, smacking Tsuna just as he was about to deny it.

"Family?" both Mahiro and Gokudera asked.

"Haha, you're playing the mafia game too?" The tall one laughed.

"Mafia? Family?" Mahiro repeated dumbly.

"You see, Tsuna is-.." Reborn tried explaining in his dryly accented Japanese.

"Reborn don't-..." Tsuna got kicked in the face again.

"_Dame_ Tsuna, don't interrupt me." Reborn turned his attention back to Mahiro. "Tsuna here is the 10th boss to the Vongola family, a very important mafia organization. Yamamoto and Gokudera here are part of his family. There are others but they're not here right now. Mahiro. Join Tsuna's family."

Her answer was abrupt, quick and to the point.

"No." The _fuck off_ went unsaid. If the baby hadn't pulled a gun on her twice, she would've thought that this whole thing was just a game and said yes, probably. But he did, and the menacing glint in his eyes said that this situation was no game. Nope, they were talking about the real deal here. She would know. If she joined, she'd be breaking the deal. Joining an important mafia family in small town Namimori was so _not_ low profile.

Reborn smirked, Leon already changing into a gun in his hands. "Then die," he said and proceeded to shoot at her.

Shit. Shit. Shit. "See you at school Tsuna!" Mahiro called before running out of the yard to get away from the bullets.

"Maa maa, look at her go!"

"Che, she's just a stupid woman. She's not good enough for Juudaime's family!"

Tsuna paled at her words. _See you at school. _School was where Hibari was at... "R-Reborn! Mahiro's in danger!"

"A true mafia boss protects their family. Go save her and get her to join your family, Tsuna. She'll be useful."

"Re-.." Tsuna didn't bother talking back. He had more important matters at hand, like preventing the prefect from meeting Mahiro. Hibari wanted to fight her and knowing Mahiro, she would most likely retaliate.

"Juudaime, wait up!"

"This is fun!" Yamamoto chortled, leaping over the banister.

Reborn watched the three chase after Mahiro, a satisfied glint in his eyes. He'd immediately done his research on her after encountering her and had learned plenty of interesting things. She was listed as one of the top 10 most feared people in Tokyo and had beaten up many gangs, even taking on some yakuza at some point. Her track record so far was all wins, no losses. She would be a great asset to Tsuna's family and he'd get her to join. Or else he'd take her out of the equation completely.

* * *

Mahiro's fists clenched and unclenched, repeating the small action several times as she thought of the baby. Reborn. Now he'd shot his gun at her three times! She didn't dream of taking him on in a fight. Nooooooooooooooooooo way in hell was that going to happen. Maybe when pigs fly and hell freezes over. So, not anytime soon. He was at a different level than her. Sure, he was a baby, but a baby who knew how to aim and shoot a gun correctly without hesitating to pull the trigger. If she tried to fight him, it would most certainly end with her loss. Even though she loved fighting, she knew that it wasn't the time or place to be picking a fight with the baby. Hell, she never even picked fights with anyone, they all came to her. And like she said, no way was that going to happen. If she had wanted to suffer horribly, she would still be in Tokyo.

"-ro! Mahiro! Stop Mahiro! It's dangerous!"

She slowed her pace and stopped a few feet away from the gate to Namimori Middle, turning to see Tsuna running towards her, already out of breath. Mahiro sighed, and decided that it wasn't a bad idea to try and teach Tsuna some stamina.

"Hah? Dangerous?" she asked. "What's dangerous is that tutor of yours who insists on turning me into a cheese wheel!" Instead of replying, Tsuna turned that funny shade of white and shrieked like a little girl, gesturing frantically behind her.

"HIIIIEEEEEEEE!" Mahiro raised her eyebrows. She tried not to mule kick instinctively behind her when the voice came.

"For going against the dress code, you will be bitten to death," a voice said coldly from behind her, which sounded oddly familiar.

"Hah?" she asked dumbly.

The metal tonfas swung and she dropped and rolled to avoid it. Who cares about stopping, stopping is only going to get her face smashed in and she quite liked her face. Rule number 27 of fighting delinquents: forget stop, drop, and roll. Drop and roll if you don't want to die!

"Herbivore, it's you again," the prefect said coolly.

"And it's Mr. Bloodthirsty patient," Mahiro replied as she ducked and twisted out of harm's way. She really wanted to smash his face into the ground but that would be going against the deal. Instead of returning his attacks, she kept evading him.

"How am I going against the dress code?" She demanded.

The tonfas struck her book bag with an intimidating thump. Mahiro gave an impressed whistle as she felt the metal plate she'd sewn into the bottom give under it's weight.

Hibari circled around her, his tonfas swirling around his forearms. His feet went tap-tap on the pavement, a cat regrouping for the next strike. "You are not wearing your uniform according to school regulations." He said, ramming both tonfas towards Mahiro's midsection. Mahiro swore loudly, bringing her book bag forward and up.

"Hah? Because I'm wearing a tie and not a bow? That's it?" Mahiro gritted out. She felt the metal plate in her bag give a little more. Thankfully her thick textbooks were acting as an extra two inches protection. But her arms were already starting to feel the strain. Sweat dripped down her back as the she struggled to bear the weight.

Some where in her head, she wondered just what the hell was wrong with her that the universe had to keep throwing wrenches into her plans for a peaceful, normal life. It wasn't as if she was benefiting the world by being a low life thug. Hurting people, Mahiro knew, was _not_ a good thing no matter how shitty a person they were. So why does everything get so _shitty_ for _her _when she tried to change _her_ status quo? Mahiro grunted as Hibari dropped more of his weight onto her.

She just wanted to relax and become the perfect student, Mahiro thought furiously. A student who _doesn't_ involve herself in bloody fights on her first day of school. _Was that too much to ask from the universe?_ Mahiro growled and dropped her make-shift shield, angling herself to prevent less of a target and caught Hibari with a perfect side kick to his belly when he fell off balance. He coughed, his dark eyes widening in pain and shock at her speed. Then a murderous expression darkened his face, and he whirled, slamming his tonfas up and around in a wide arc. But Mahiro was ready, and she slammed her fist into the crook of his elbow knocking his blow awry. Her foot snaked behind his, ready to push him off balance. The moment came when he attacked again, a grim edge to his lip. Mahiro came from underneath, her fists like heavy mallets pounding one-two into his side. When he whirled around to face her, Mahiro hooked her arm beneath his leg, and dumped Hibari onto his back. Mahiro leaped forward, no hesitation, her arms and legs churning as...she ran.

"M-Mahiro!" Tsuna called.

"Why didn't you warn me that that hound was here!" Mahiro cried out behind her, distance already making her voice weak.

"I-I tried!"

"You didn't try hard enough! I'll see you later!"

Hibari picked himself off the ground. Murder in his eyes as he stared after her direction. He could taste blood in his mouth from where he'd bitten his tongue when she'd dumped him on the ground. His side ached, a sharp throbbing pain that warned him that his ribs had been cracked, or at least broken. Hibari ignored the gathering cattle for the morning classes, slipping his tonfas back into his sleeves where the cattle teachers couldn't moo about it. The damned herbivore, no, he amended, that _girl_ was no herbivore.

He'd seen it, only for a split second right after he'd hit the ground with pain shooting through his body and _her_ ready to pounce in his moment of weakness. But in that moment, he'd seen the hungry, feral look in her eyes. He'd been ready for her fangs, but then the expression changed to purpose. And instead of attacking like he'd expected, she'd ran, not because she feared hurting him, but _because she didn't consider him a threat after he hit the ground. _Hibari hissed angrily at the insult. His fists clenched hard enough on the leather grips of his tonfas to dent. The sea of frightened cattle parted like the walls were magnetized.

Hibari embraced the fury and humiliation but ignored the underlying feeling underneath all of this unusual introspection. What he had felt while flat on his back, waiting beneath all that crouched, feral energy. He made his way to the disciplinary committee room, that ugly feeling roiling inside him all the while.

Meanwhile, Mahiro made her way to her classroom, slamming the door behind her before slumping against the wall, catching her breath. She brushed her bangs back in place and redid her braids since they were now messy from all the running she'd had to do today. It was still pretty early in the morning and no students had arrived in class yet, so she was the only one there.

"Ciaossu!"

Not.

"You!" she growled, still feeling sore about the three murder attempts. The baby sat on the desk in front of her, cross legged and a cup of coffee in hand, Leon relaxing on the brim of his hat.

"You're pretty fast. And you're reflexes aren't bad either. Join Tsuna's family, you'd be a great help to him," the baby said.

She laughed nervously. "You know, I can believe that you're part of the mafia but Tsuna? He's not the sort to be involved in shit like that, much less be leading at the helm of this little cluster-fuck-to-be."

Reborn just smiled. "Well yes, that's why I am training him to become a capable Don."

Mahiro sank back into her chair, an exhausted sigh slipping from her. "And you want _me _involved in this insanity _why_?"

Reborn was blunt. "You show qualities that are fit for becoming part of Tsuna's family. As the next boss to the Vongola, there will be many assassins out to get him." His dark beady eyes flashed beneath the brim of his hat, much like the muzzle of a gun. Mahiro imagined that her death was staring her in the face as the baby leaned forward and continued gently.

"Now can you really allow your best friend to be put in such danger?" Reborn asked.

Mahiro's eyelid twitched violently._ Manipulative little bastard._

"No, of course I don't. But that doesn't mean I'll accept." Mahiro retorted through clenched teeth.

Beady black eyes bore into her. "And why is that?"

Dark brown eyes met black eyes, as Mahiro contemplated her reply. She considered lying but settled on the truth. "To be able to keep living in Namimori, there were a few requirements I had to follow and one of them is to keep on the down low. Joining the mafia? That's as far from _down low_ as you can get."

The silence was met by the warning bell and Mahiro could hear the other students approaching. She got up from where she sat and went to stand by the teacher's desk, awaiting their arrival so that she could introduce herself and then be seated. She ignored the contemplative stare and silence of the baby from in the corner. A silence that was quickly broken with quietly spoken words.

"Join Tsuna's family. You'll have no problems with keeping a low profile. We mafia never allow our business to be aired in public." With that Reborn disappeared, leaving Mahiro to rethink her answer. Carefully keeping her musings off her face while more chattering students filed in, her mind quickly flickered through the possibilities of his suggestion.

If what he said was true, then joining Tsuna's family could be beneficial to her. She'd get to be around Tsuna more, and feed her need for violence without having to worry about her casualties showing up in the newspapers. She gets her old fun back and Tsuna gets a new family member. A win-win situation.

But she really did want some peace and quiet for once in her life.

_Liar._ A voice deep inside her pointed out smugly. _No, really._ She countered.

_Mmm-hm. _The voice said skeptically_._

Not long after, students began filing into the class each one of them whispering about how lucky they were that they'd gotten two transfer students twice this year. She stood smartly at the front of the classroom, waiting for the teacher to get the kids to settle down before she introduced herself. She smiled as she saw Tsuna's surprised face. He hadn't been expecting her to also be in the same class as him.

"Alright, everyone settle down. We've got a new transfer student, all of you be quiet and let her introduce herself, then you can ask her questions," the teacher said.

Mahiro gave a quick bow before beginning. "Hi, I'm Hisagi Mahiro and I just transferred from Tokyo. It's nice to meet everyone and I hope we can become great friends." She flashed them a smile, trying to go along with the whole sweet and kind school girl look. Immediately, questions started flying at her and she smiled on, all the while thinking about slamming her hands on the desk and telling them to shut up and speak one by one.

"Hisagi-san, why did you wear a tie instead of bow?"

"I heard you were fighting with Hibari-san this morning, why'd you do it?"

"Are you single, Hisagi-san?"

"Will you go out with me?"

"When's your birthday?"

"How was your school in Tokyo?"

"Why did you transfer here?"

She cleared her throat, silencing them with a hand. "I wear a tie instead of a bow because it's useful in certain circumstances. I have no idea what you mean by a fight. It was merely a disagreement. Yes, I am single and no, I will not go out with you. My birthday is in January and my school was fun. I moved to Namimori because of family problems," she answered them all at once. "Now, if that's it, can I be seated, sensei?"

"Sure, just find an empty seat," he motioned for her to hurry up and be seated.

Mahiro chose a seat way in the back corner. _Why_ the back corner? That's because she liked to have the wall at her back and be able to see everything that goes on. She hated when she couldn't get a good view on her surroundings. Sitting in the back corner allowed her to view the classroom and study everyone's characters' secretly.

She rested her cheek on her palm, slouching in her desk. She grinned as she saw Tsuna turn every so often to see how she was doing. She gave him a thumbs up and waved at Gokudera who only glared. She could feel the glares of his fan girls and waved back at them, fully aware that she was incurring their wrath. They could try their petty bullying tactics against her all they want because at the end of the day, she wouldn't be the one hurting. She spent the entire morning staring into space, and didn't notice at all when the lunch bell had rang, signaling the end of the morning.

"Uh, Mahiro... Do you want to have lunch with us?" Tsuna asked, looking uncomfortable.

"Hah?" she replied. "Oh, sure. Where at?"

"To the roof!" Yamamoto grinned.

Mahiro followed them grinning all the way with her arm wrapped around Tsuna's shoulder. She ignored Gokudera's blatant disapproval of her vicinity with the 'Juudaime' while Yamamoto laughed at Gokudera's antics. Once they were on the roof, she let go of Tsuna and ran to the balcony, staring down at the ground below. "Wow, we're so high up. I wonder how it'll feel falling from this height" she remarked.

"M-Mahiro..." Tsuna sweat dropped. He thought back to the time when Yamamoto injured his arm and tried to commit suicide because of it. They had both fell over but luckily Reborn had shot a dying will bullet and they both were saved.

She came back to the group and dropped down, legs crossed. She took her lunch out and dug in after a quick, perfunctory "Ita-daki-mas".

"I won't recognize you has part of Juudaime's family!" Gokudera said suddenly. His good looking tanned features dark with disapproval.

Mahiro gave him an 'o' really?' smile and turned towards Tsuna so suddenly, he choked on his food. "Tsuna, I've decided that I'll join your family."

"W-w-what!" Tsuna spluttered.

"Hahaha. So you've decided to play the game too, Mahiro-chan!" Yamamoto enthused clapping his hands excitedly. Mahiro spared the handsome boy a disturbed look. _I'm not sure if he's a crazy secret psychopath_, she pursed her lips, _or trolling me._

"That's a good choice, Mahiro. If you had continued to refuse, I would've had to convince you through other means." Tsuna stiffened before jumping up. His extreme reaction masking the sharp yip that escaped Mahiro's diaphragm inadvertently. Mahiro turned it into a cough, and sympathetically Yamamoto handed her a juice box.

"R-Reborn! What are YOU doing here!" Tsuna shouted, as high strung as a neutered chihuahua. Mahiro winced, and rubbed her ears. _And about as high pitched too_, she mused darkly. _I can't wait until he's past puberty and sounds more like an actual person, instead of a Disney mouse character._

The baby tipped his hat at Mahiro, ignoring his charge. She smiled wryly at the action and asked, "Does this mean you'll stop trying to shoot at me?"

"No." The baby said bluntly. "This just means I'll stop trying to kill you."

"Ah, I see." Mahiro sipped her juice box thoughtfully. "So what exactly do I do now that I'm in the mafia?"

"You protect the boss."

She nodded. "That's easy."

Tsuna blanched. His childhood friend was accepting the situation so calmly! Any normal person would have ran away much less accept! But wait, Hisagi Mahiro wasn't exactly normal... she had beaten up middle school students at the age of six with no problems whatsoever. A few scrapes here and there but nothing in comparison with her victims.

The roof door swung open, revealing a certain raven haired prefect. "Herbivores," he addressed before his gaze drew to Mahiro who was in the middle of taking a bite out of her curry bread. He grinned, drawing his tonfas.

"You're first job is to fight with Hibari, all the while protecting Tsuna," Reborn continued.

"Hah?" she ducked just in time to avoid getting her face smashed in. She held her hands up, showing that she wasn't a threat but the prefect ignored the gesture. A hard swing nearly took her head off. Mahiro turned her hands from flat palms of supplication to hard knotted fists, and she ducked and swayed with Hibari's blows.

"Mahiro!" Tsuna called, worried.

Hibari struck like a viper, fast, biting. His tonfas whipped toward her head. Mahiro was already ducking, parrying the blow aside. The heel of her lean, scarred left hand hit his ribs like a small shovel, lifting him onto his toes. Mahiro noted grimly how the bastard choked on his next swing, and then he was stumbling back. His gleaming metal tonfas curled protectively over his side, and Hibari had to fight back his astonishment and pain at this girl's strength. He could taste blood in his mouth again, and Hibari shook his head grimly, brandishing his tonfas.

But Mahiro was no longer standing where he'd left her. Hibari's head whipped to the side, her foot striking a glancing blow off the side of his temple. Hibari followed her descending momentum, intending to catch her from the side. But she was already there, with her eyes filled with feral enjoyment, a skull grin on her face, saying; see, isn't this _fun? _Her fist lashed like a whip, sneaking past his guard and hammering him on his chin hard enough to snap a tooth loose.

A rough roar tore from his throat, and Mahiro answered with a throaty laugh. Her teeth gleamed whitely in her tan face, and she said something incomprehensible to Hibari in his rage. They came together in a blur of hands and knees, elbows and feet. He took an impossibly close kick like a hammer, grunted, dropped his tonfas on her ankle, saw the bones of her face tighten for an instant, grabbed the slender joint, and twisted. Mahiro laughed again, a short sharp burst of glee, and whipped like a top in midair. Her rotating kick caught him on the shoulder as he ducked and her red tie wrapped tightly against his throat. Hibari tried to break away, but found he couldn't even breath. Mahiro clamped her legs over his arms, keeping him and his tonfas pinned while she restricted the amount of airflow to his brain. This was where she had to be careful, she reminded herself absently while Hibari struggled beneath her. Too long and Mahiro would kill him, too short and Hibari would wake back up too fast. Just long enough, like her nee-chan cautioned when she'd demonstrated with a now very, very ex-boyfriend.

The prefect slumped completely, relaxing like a baby lamb in an anaconda's embrace. Mahiro checked his pulse, timed the beats on her wristwatch like her sister taught her and grinned.

"There," she said proudly and ushered Tsuna and the others off the rooftop before the prefect could wake back up.

"So that's what you meant by useful, Mahiro?" asked Tsuna who felt like he'd just been witness to a murder. _More importantly, shouldn't we call an ambulance? _Inner Tsuna shrieked.

"Hah?" was her reply.

"You said in class that you wore a tie because it was useful..." Tsuna let the sentence drift off because he felt like face palming himself. _Why the hell am I so calm! I just watched my childhood friend beat up, defeat, and choke into unconsciousness, the scariest and strongest guy in my_ school!

"Oh. Yeah, wearing a tie is really useful in certain circumstances like that. With a bow, the best I'd be able to do with it is chuck it at some one. Now a tie, with a tie you can tie people up, blind fold them, gag their mouth, choke them, etc." Tsuna paled at the uses. Gag someone? Blindfold them? Choke them? His childhood friend couldn't have done all that with the use of a tie... could she? _Had_ she?

"Mahiro-chan, you sure are funny," Yamamoto laughed as he ruffled her hair.

"Oi, woman for protecting Juudaime, I have a little respect for you now," Gokudera stated, grudgingly.

Tsuna stared at all of them, bug eyed. "But he didn't even try to hit me!" Tsuna pointed out with a rising edge of hysteria to his voice.

She smiled and patted his head, which he voiced his disapproval at. They headed back to class quite peacefully without any interruptions. Mahiro kept a smile on her face throughout the whole day, quite satisfied with herself. Back in Tokyo if anyone had came at her like Hibari did, she would have decimated them, leaving them half dead as opposed to just unconscious. But here in Namimori, Mahiro just felt that there was such a small populace of delinquents to terrorize she ought to treasure the few that could actually fight. She figured her newfound goodwill was because her life had become less stressed now that she was finally out from under her siblings' constant watch. And also that she wasn't so frustrated anymore that she'd need to pick a fight to let off some steam. In fact, she was already feeling sort of like a regular middle school girl. One who happened to be in the mafia, that is.

She was a bit disappointed though, that she didn't get to seriously fight Hibari. Always when Tsuna was around, Mahiro toned down on her violent beatings so as not to frighten Tsuna too much. Too much, she scoffed affectionately. No matter how much she toned it down, he would still get scared.

Maybe she might actually be a normal student for once.

_But you don't want to. _

_Yes, I do._

For God's sake-she was atheist by the way- she was having a disagreement with her self. _Again._ She shook her head silently. Maybe she was going crazy or something. Staring out the window, she caught a glimpse of a baby in a suit, with a satisfied look on his face. She looked back again and he was gone. Yep, she might just be going crazy and Reborn's random appearances was not helping.

* * *

**Extra **

_Mahiro, you are not expected to come to Death Mountain but it is highly recommended that you do. If you decide to ignore this message and choose not to come, there will be grave consequences._

_-Reborn_

"N-No, shit?" Mahiro held the slip of paper in her hand, the other holding a mug of steaming jasmine tea. She'd woken up this morning to find the note from Reborn taped to her bathroom mirror. She groaned. She had really wanted to just laze around this weekend.

She tied her hair into a bun, sticking a pencil through it to make it stay. She grabbed her coat before heading out. She didn't doubt that Reborn wouldn't follow through on his threat. He was the kind of person who'd take death bed vendettas seriously and she'd rather spend a day on Death Mountain then experience those 'grave consequences.' Mahiro considered her thoughts, a sly snort escaping her lips.

Grave consequences, Death Mountain, heh, she'd made a funny.

* * *

_20 Minutes later..._

Tsuna was tied to a boulder beneath a waterfall wearing only his boxers. Yamamoto, Gokudera, and some blonde guy watched as Reborn threw a turtle into the water.

"Hi, Tsuna!" Mahiro greeted, certain she was wide awake before she was met by the terrifying sight of a giant turtle.

"M-Mahiro-HIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!" Tsuna began normally, but then ran screaming to the rickety rope bridge along with everyone else.

She whistled at the turtle's huge size and watched as it chased after them. She saw as the turtle destroyed the bridge and they all plummeted to earth. "Wow. So that was it?" She yawned, sleep still invading her senses. She'd thought it had been something important, but guess not. Time to go back home and sleep. She'd came to Death Mountain so she couldn't be punished by Reborn later for not coming. Chump. She figured Tsuna would be fine with his mafia family. What's one less pair of hands?

She turned back and walked straight out of the forest. She had made sure to mark her way so she was out of the woods in no less than 30 minutes and walking on the streets of Namimori again. Ten minutes later and she was back to sleep in her comfortable bed, unaware of all the horrors Tsuna and co. had to go through that day.

* * *

**A/N: So what'd you think? How was the action scenes? **


	3. The dangers of grocery shopping

Chapter 3

* * *

"Ranking Fuuta? So he ranks people?" Mahiro asked. She'd decided to come over to Tsuna's house after school and had met Tsuna's sworn brother Dino and his family. Sitting on Tsuna's bed across from her, sat the well known Ranking Fuuta who insisted on calling Tsuna, Tsuna-nii.

"Mahiro-neechan, do you want me to tell your rankings for you?" he asked, a cute smile on his face.

She set her school bag down on the floor, and went to sit on Tsuna's bed. "Sure, why not?" She shrugged.

"It's hard to come by a chance like this, so why don't you get some rankings too, Tsuna?" Reborn interjected.

"Eh.. me..?" Tsuna replied hesitantly.

"Fine by me," Fuuta said cheerfully.

"That sounds like fun!" a chirpy voice said. Mahiro turned to see a dark haired girl who looked to be about their age peeking around the doorway. "Is it a new type of fortune telling?" She asked curiously.

"Haru! Why are you always coming in uninvited!" Tsuna groaned, looking put-upon.

"Well it looked like it was going to rain, so I came in with Tsuna-san's laundry!" Haru said, looking quite proud of herself.

Tsuna looked extremely uncomfortable. "Uh.. th-thanks..." Tsuna grimaced.

Mahiro watched silently from where she sat. So this person was Haru, the girl who wanted to become a Mafia boss's wife. _Tsuna's _wife, to be exact. Reborn had told her about the other members of Tsuna's family and so far she'd met most of them. First was Kyoko Sasagawa. She was a very cute and likeable girl with light orange-ish brown hair that curled around her ears. Kyoko also had an endearing smile that had Tsuna blushing from across the room. She had been very welcoming at school, when she heard that not only was Mahiro a new transfer student, but also Tsuna's childhood friend. Mahiro had also ran into Kyoko's older brother, Ryohei. Ryohei was captain of Namimori Middle Boxing club, and very energetically tried to get her to join, once he'd realized that _she_ was the stranger who'd fought their prefect to a standstill.

"Actually," Mahiro found herself helplessly pointing out. "By the time I was through, the fuckwad was on his knees."

Next there was Hibari who was not an official member but for whom Reborn had high hopes for. She grimaced at the thought of him joining the family. If he did decide to, which was highly unlikely, he'd try and fight her again. And again. _And again_. One of the reasons why she had first started fighting was so that she'd get people off her back. Once they got the snot beaten out of them, they wouldn't even _think_ about crawling back for another whooping. But that crazy weapon wielding bastard would probably _keep_ coming at her until one of them _died. _Mahiro shuddered. With fear, she told herself, with _fear_, not excitement.

Tsuna's other family members had included Bianchi; Reborn's girlfriend and a poison expert. Mahiro had thought that her presence was a little weird and sad, because she was at the very least twice the age of the rest of the family. Mahiro also thought that her fascination with the diminutive Reborn was a little bit creepy. Then there was Lambo; a kid in a cow suit with a head of hair like Doraemon's four dimensional pocket, and I-pin; a martial artist who became a ticking time bomb when embarrassed. All that was left was Haru; the girl who wanted to marry Tsuna. She'd met everyone already with exception of Haru since she had barely hung around Tsuna as often as Gokudera and Yamamoto. Hell, she had better things to do.

Mahiro whistled to herself thoughtfully at the mental roll call of all these fuck jobs. Not only had Tsuna surrounded himself in crazy Mafiosos and delinquents, but he'd managed to pick up a stalker too during the years. Impressively not good for no-good Tsuna. Now here the stalker was; standing in Tsuna's room like she owned the place already. "Hi," Mahiro gave a small wave at the girl.

"H-HAHI!" The girl squealed, sending Mahiro's eyebrows up in an irritated arc. Haru turned towards Tsuna, pointing rudely at Mahiro. "Tsuna-san, who is _she_? Are you cheating on Haru? Is that it?"

_Why is she talking about herself in third person_? Mahiro winced as the stalker-girl continued to shriek at the helplessly frantic Tsuna.

"Wh-what?" Tsuna spluttered, completely oblivious about the situation. The girl started to get red in the face and Tsuna visibly cringed. Mahiro sighed, and shook her head. _I've really gotta start that training for Tsuna_, she thought mournfully.

Mahiro smirked, an idea coming to mind. She crossed her arms and stared pointedly at the girl. "'Cheating on Haru?' What are you talking about? Tsuna's going out with me." She jabbed a thumb towards her chest.

"EH!" Tsuna squeaked. "No, Haru...you've got it all wrong! And you!" Tsuna pointed at his recalcitrant friend with a growl. "STOP helping!"

Mahiro made a 'whatever' gesture with her hands, and ignored the glares pointed her way from Haru.

"Haru will fight you for Tsuna-san's love!" Haru declared, looking fired up. Mahiro guffawed at the girl's reaction, her loud, raucous laughter resulting in a confused look on the dark haired girls face.

"I'm just kidding, Miura-san. Settle down. I'm Mahiro Hisagi, Tsuna's childhood friend. And you're Haru Miura, the girl who wants to become the boss's wife." A.K.A, the girl with shits for brains...Mahiro added silently. Really, who in their right mind thinks that marrying into crime is a great idea? Someone up for the Darwin award, that's who.

"H-Hai!" Haru acknowledged. She squinted at Mahiro, searching her for any lies. "You won't try to steal Tsuna-san away from me will you?" She asked hesitantly.

Mahiro replied with an offhanded, "Who knows?" before bringing her attention back to Fuuta. "So Fuuta, tell me my rankings, why don't you?"

Fuuta nodded, a pleased serene smile on his little face. "Okay, here I go," he said as he stared up at the ceiling. The people in the room watched with fascination while Fuuta's gaze slowly became blank and distant. All the objects in Tsuna's room began floating as did Fuuta. "This is Fuuta." He said faintly, the serene smile fading from his face. "I can hear you ranking planet."

"What! What are you saying, Fuuta!" Tsuna started to freak out. Reborn and Mahiro both shook their heads in despair. So much more work still to be done...

"Didn't I tell you? He's contacting the planet," Reborn replied bluntly.

"You think I'm going to believe something occult like that?" Tsuna shrieked, his voice cracking embarrassingly.

"Shut it Tsuna," Mahiro swatted him affectionately in the side, ignoring how he immediately hunched over and started gasping for breath.

Fuuta began to speak, his eyes glazing over while his mind connected to the stats on the ranking planet. "Mahiro-neechan's ranked fifty eighth in terms of strength, one hundred and eighty second in terms of tactics, twenty first in terms of evading skills, and eleventh in terms of speed. All of them out of 86,000." Mahiro whistled at what it was out of. It was quite surprising being in the top 200 out of 86,000 others.

"Ooh, do Haru next! What are Haru's top three charm points?" squealed Haru with excitement.

"Haru-san's number one charm point out of all eight is..." Fuuta paused. "It's your hair whorl."

"Wha-! How did you know?" Haru swung around towards Tsuna blushing, hands covering her whorl. "Tsuna-san must have..."

"How would I of have known that it would be your hair whorl!" Tsuna stammered.

"Eh... then...HAHIEEEK! Fuuta-kun is amazing! What a gifted fortune teller!" Haru shrieked, and tackled Tsuna enthusiastically.

Mahiro stretched herself out on Tsuna's bed, getting comfy. "What a bother," she muttered as Haru asked Fuuta to tell her the top three things that she liked about Tsuna. Mahiro tuned them out as she slipped on her earphones and dug out the latest issue of Jump. She stopped, remembering that she needed to go and buy some groceries or else she wouldn't have anything to eat for lunch tomorrow. With a groan, she sat back up in bed. "Tsuna, I've gotta go," she said but he didn't hear a thing, gaping up at the ceiling where I-pin and Lambo were still floating.

With a quick goodbye to Nana, Mahiro was down the street headed towards the grocery store before meeting up with Gokudera and Yamamoto. "Hiya there," she waved.

"You! What are you doing here? I thought you were with Juudaime!" the silver haired kid exclaimed.

She resisted an insanely powerful urge to slam him face first into the asphalt and settled with just ignoring his comment. "Oh, Tsuna's got a visitor at his house. A kid named Ranking-Fuuta."

As soon as the words Ranking Fuuta left her mouth, Gokudera had sped towards Tsuna's house. "What's his problem?" she asked the perpetually nonchalant Yamamoto.

He replied with a carefree laugh. "I have no idea but it seems fun! See you later Mahiro-chan."

"See ya," she agreed as Yamamoto followed after Gokudera. She glanced up at the sky which was beginning to darken with storm clouds. "Man, I should've brought an umbrella today."

Business at the grocery store was incredibly strange. As soon as she had entered, she had taken noticed of the clerks and shoppers who looked as on edge as if Godzilla had just entered the store. She continued warily, on the alert for any strange shit sure to pop out like the rest of the weirdness that had happened since she'd moved here. She passed by the produce section, then the meat, and then finally to the milk and eggs section with her grocery basket in hand. She opened the fridge door to grab a carton of milk and bumped hands into another shopper. "Sorry," she muttered absently before reaching for it again.

"Herbivore."

Mahiro jumped back, milk carton in hand, and brought it up to shield her from the prefect. "What the hell are _you_ doing here! Don't tell me you want to fight again!" Mahiro swore, mentally tallying all the possible escape routes and also possible eyewitnesses should Mahiro have to hammer his face into the linoleum.

"What does she think she's doing?"

"That's Hibari-san, she's yelling at!"

"Some one's gonna get sent to the hospital today!"

"I hope she has insurance."

She caught the shoppers giving her worried looks before setting her sight back on Hibari. "Can't I just shop peacefully?" Mahiro groaned, setting the carton down and clenching her fists. "If you want another fight, let's do it some other time, alright?"

Hibari stared back at her, an amused smirk on his face before grabbing the milk carton next to the one she had grabbed earlier. "I'll take you up on that offer, herbivore," he said before walking away.

"The fuck just happened?" she wondered aloud. She had been expecting him to whip out his tonfas and attack her then and there but... he'd retreated? She scratched her head. Did Reborn do something? From the short amount of time that she had been graced with Hibari's presence, she had learn that he was bloodthirsty(er..._dog-shit crazy_) and didn't hesitate to discipline anyone who broke the rules, male or female. Yay for gender equality, she thought dryly. Anyways, point was, he wasn't someone to walk away from a fight and from last time's encounter, Mahiro was pretty sure that he would be wanting a rematch.

Mahiro shook her head. She should be elated that she didn't have to worry about any ambushes from the rat bastard. But she knew that this little truce was only temporary. "Damn it," she muttered as the cashier checked out the food and paid for it.

Stepping out into the rain, Mahiro smiled at the cool droplets. She still wished that she'd brought an umbrella but the rain felt good on her face and hair. She wondered what Tsuna and the others were up to back at the Sawada household when suddenly...

"Help! That rascal's stolen my purse," an elderly woman yelled as the purse snatcher came running by Mahiro. Reacting instinctively, Mahiro's left leg shot out, catching the thief by surprise. His momentum had him rolling across the pavement at skin scraping speed.

Mahiro barely glanced him over before walking by and picking up the old woman's brown purse, now dirtied from the impact against the pavement. She headed back towards the elderly woman, purse and groceries in hand and handed the accessory back to the woman, smile on her face. "Here you go." _See, I _can_ be a normal, upstanding citizen_. She thought proudly.

The elderly woman's thankful expression changed into a look of horror as Mahiro spun around to viciously slam down the crawling thief with her foot to the back his skull. "You should head home now granny, I heard there are some b-a-ad people in Namimori," Mahiro said, still in the same, light tone.

"But young miss-.."

"I've got it handled so please move along," with a pleasant smile on her face, Mahiro stalked towards the thief who then pulled a pocket knife from his baggy jeans. A startled chuckle burst free of her lips. "And what do you think you've got there, mister?" Mahiro's hands clenched and unclenched at her sides, the thick heavy scarring over her knuckles stretching in preparation to hurt. The purse snatcher didn't seem to understand the hurricane heading his way and started to blab like there was no tomorrow.

"Mahiro Hisagi! So this was where you were hiding! Just wait until I tell aniki and the others! We'll have your-..!" shouted the thief waving the blade at her menacingly. She yawned and blocked out the rest of the threat with a sense of depression. She'd narrowly gotten out of a fight with Hibari just to get into another one with some nameless punk who happened to know her from her past. _Damn, but the shit that happens to her_... She set her bags down on a bench and flexed her fingers. A familiar warmth starting to warm her blood, and rush in her ears.

Mahiro kicked the cellphone out of the thief's hands as he was trying to dial a number. She stalked towards him, cracking her knuckles and rolling out her neck muscles. All she wanted to do was shop for some groceries and then head back home where she could enjoy some ice cream and watch someone get murdered painfully from her collection of horror and criminal movies. A thought came to mind. Why watch someone in pain, when you can put someone in pain? She smiled, feeling warm in the rush of adrenaline. What a _good_ idea.

"Y-you! Stay back Hisagi or I'll stab you!" he threatened pointing his knife at her. Mahiro turned to her side, immediately reducing her size as a target, and yanked the thief's arm towards her. With a hard jerk, she elbowed him with her other arm before her right leg swiftly swept his legs under. Mahiro slammed him onto the wet cold pavement. And while the punk tried to catch his breath and equilibrium, she twisted his hand back so that the knife turned to his throat, cutting into him when he bucked beneath her.

"Stab me how?" She grinned. The blood trickled down the side of his neck into the sweat stained collar of his sweat shirt and he quickly stopped trying to throw her off. "Now I have no idea who you are but I've got a pretty good idea why you just tried to attack me." She leaned in closer, eyes gleaming with satisfaction. "Listen here and listen good. Once you get back to Tokyo, you better not say a word about seeing me here to anyone. _Anyone_, you got that?" No reply. She dug the knife in causing him to yelp. "If someone from Tokyo so much as shows up at Namimori looking for me, I can assure you that they'll all be eating from a feeding tube and you," she paused for dramatic effect. "Even if I don't know your name, I know your face and I will use all of my connections to hunt you down and put you six feet under. No one will ever know about your disappearance or where your body is buried. Wa-ka-ri ma-su ka?"

He tried to break his hand from her grip but winced as her other hand slammed into his gut. "Do you under_stand_ Eiji Takagi?" Mahiro asked as she glanced at his ID card laying beside his wallet. It must've fallen out when he fell, she thought boredom already having her fighting back a yawn. Her saying his name must've been the trigger, because his eyes widened like saucers and he nodded furiously. Mahiro withdrew the blade a centimeter. "Good, now go to wherever you were going before you got the bright idea to snatch an old lady's purse."

She let go and watched as he scampered away. She couldn't help notice the dark spot at his crotch before he had gotten up and left. "I wonder if he pissed himself or if it was the rain?" she mused, picking up her bag of groceries. "Probably both," _Pussy. S_he shrugged as she headed back to her apartment, the knife in her hands harmlessly flung into a flower bed. Too bad she hadn't done as much damage as she had wanted. She'd held back and insisted on threatening him instead of pummeling him into the pavement like she had initially wanted.

It was because if she didn't, he would've gone back to Tokyo all bandaged up and bruised which would have caused questions to be raised.

_That's a lie and you know it. You're getting soft. Who's the _real_ pussy here, huh?_

She smacked her forehead, annoyed that she was arguing with herself again. "Whatever," she mumbled uncomfortably to herself. Sure, there were less delinquents(barely) in Namimori thanks to Hibari and no one picked a fight with her so she hadn't gotten into a fight with another mob of delinquents recently, but that didn't exactly mean that she was losing her touch right? She _had_ to put up with _Hibari _and _Reborn_ now-both of whom were light years above the punks in Tokyo(she could tell)- so didn't that mean that if anything, she was getting stronger? She dismissed the thought immediately. Why did she need to get stronger anyways? She was already strong enough as she already was. There wasn't a need to become stronger. Every battle she had fought, she had emerged victorious no matter what the odds were. Outnumbered and cornered numerous times before, she'd still won even though her opponents had used cheap tactics. No matter the shit piles she found herself in, she always won in the end.

She shook her head(she seemed to be doing that a lot lately) at where her thoughts were heading. Why was she even thinking these things? She didn't have to worry about any of it. No matter what, she would win and that was that. She brushed off the inkling of doubt as she slid her apartment key into the lock, opening the door to reveal a spacious apartment room painted and decorated in creamy pastel colors. As she stuffed her fridge with the newly bought food, she couldn't help but let her thoughts drift back to Tsuna and the others. What did Gokudera ask Fuuta to rank him for anyways? _Probably what he ranked as for Tsuna's right hand man. _Mahiro snorted, slamming the fridge shut.

* * *

_Meanwhile at the Sawada household_

"Tsuna-nii's love ranking, number one is..." Fuuta continued.

_ARGH! No! Now everyone will find out that I like Kyoko-chan! _Tsuna inwardly screamed in horror. "N-!"

"Leon!"

"No way!" Tsuna's face was pale with shock and dismay.

Yamamoto laughed. "Hahahaha is that true Tsuna?"

"Eh!"

"It can't be!" squealed Haru.

_Do I unconsciously like Leon...? I don't understand myself~~~~. _Tsuna went milk white at the revelation.

"Haru has lost to such an opponent. Haru's heart is just like the sky during a storm," Haru whimpered, hands pressed up against the window.

Snapping out of his trance, all the objects-including people- that had been floating in mid air, fell to the ground. "Rain?" Fuuta asked. "Ugh."

"What's wrong Fuuta?" Tsuna queried.

"I feel heavy," he relied glumly. "I'm really weak to rain. I hate the rain. My ranking goes all wonky."

"W-What did you just say!" exclaimed Tsuna. "So the ranking after it started to rain is all wrong?"

"So my ranking is also.."

"Lambo-san's too!"

"When did it start raining?"

"I presume the rankings go askew when it rains because is an interference with the ranking planet's connection," Reborn quipped. Reborn's beady eyes seemed to be watching the street for something, or perhaps he was just bored.

"AGAIN WITH THE RANKING PLANET!"


	4. Chocolate, Fritters and Hot Water

**A/N: Chapter 4 is out! I would like to thank my beta who helped me out with this chapter and the past few chapters. Her black fin and rainbow slicked tail, all helped me when I was having a writing block. I'm surprised he hasn't died yet from all my neglect. Lastly, I would like to thank my Beta for helping me with grammar and details. **

**Note: I am speaking about two different betas here. One lays eggs, while one breathes my air.**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

* * *

"What was that again?" Mahiro asked, not sure if she had heard her mother right. She chewed on her thumb, anxiously awaiting for her mother's reply.

An exasperated sigh was heard from the other line before the reply came in crisp and concise sentences. "You heard me, Ma-chan. I'm cutting your allowances in half. I'm paying for your living expenses so you don't have to worry about bills or the like. I'll still send you money but only enough for you to buy groceries with. Got it?"

"B-but why? We're pretty well off so there's no need to cut it short right?" Her fingers drummed softly against the kitchen table.

A laugh in response. "You said you wanted to live independently, right? Well this way you'll have to find a job if you want to buy something. You shouldn't depend too much on your family, you know."

"But I'm only fourteen! There's no place that'll hire a kid my age!"

"I don't know. Deliver papers or something. You've got to find something that'll work. I'm sure you'll find a job, Ma-chan you've just got to look for it. By the way, how is it there in Namimori? How's Nana and Tsuna? You haven't been stirring up trouble there, have you?" Her mother accused.

Mahiro shook her head, crossing her fingers. It wasn't like she did it on purpose. Trouble always seemed to follow her whether she looked for it or not i.e. Hibari, Reborn, and the whole mafia business. But she wasn't going to tell her mother any of that. "Namimori's a nice and peaceful place. There's not a single delinquent in Namimori so I haven't been causing any troubles." She lied, amazed the universe didn't strike her dead for such a blatant lie. For sure that tonfa wielding maniac was a delinquent. Him _and_ all ofhis cronies that sported the awesomely cool pompadour(the hairstyle was cool, just not many people looked badass in them, the Nami-chu delinquent, err-Disciplinary force included). She continued, "Nana-san and Tsuna are fine. Nana says to keep in touch more."

"Alright. Ma-chan, I've got a meeting to attend so I'll call you later. Remember to be on your best, and I mean _best_, behavior over there. One little mishap and Masa-chan and Mana-chan will be on you like a pack of starving wolves to an injured doe. You would be amazed at how hard I'd worked to clear up any loose ends that might lead to you. Knowing your siblings, they'll search all over for their cute little imouto-chan."

The drumming on the tabletop stopped. "M'kay," was Mahiro's weak reply.

"'Kay, bye Ma-chan! Talk to you later. Oh, and happy Valentine's day!"

With a soft click, the call ended and Mahiro's cell phone snapped shut. It was one thing to call your daughter early in the morning right before school to tell them that you were cutting their allowance, and quite another to tell them that their information broker brother and investigator brother were searching for her. All on Valentine's day, a day she had came to love, thanks to all her siblings generosity.

"Damn it!" she muttered before taking a quick glance at the analog clock hanging on the cream colored walls. Mahiro swore a blue streak while making her way to the door. Why oh why did her mom have to tell her now that her allowance was being cut? When she'd already gone ahead and spent half of this months allowance on boxes and boxes of Godiva chocolates. The world was just not fair!

She grinded her teeth as she neared the school(The phone call had taken up most of her morning so she didn't have enough time to head over to Tsuna's place to walk with him to school). Fingering the several neatly wrapped boxes in her bag, she gave them a contemplative look. Should she or should she not eat them? _Eat me. Eat me._ They seemed to say, their shiny wrapping paper and curly bows beckoning for her to remove the coverings and ravish them.

Turning away, she covered her face blushing all the while. "I can't, no, I shouldn't. I must not," she moaned gutterally, hands somewhat muffling her voice.

"What the hell do you think you're doing standing in the middle of the street and blocking Juudaime's way, stupid woman?"

She turned to face a disgruntled Gokudera, arms crossed across his chest, looking imposing to everyone but Mahiro. Her hands fell from her face but they strayed to the hem of her skirt. Playing with it, she looked up shyly one handing reaching into her bag and pulling out a small 5x4 inch box and stuck it out towards him, hand trembling. "H-Here!"

Tsuna who had been fantasizing about Kyoko-chan's chocolates the whole morning, pointed a finger at the box, glancing back and forth between his right hand man and his childhood friend who looked so nervous. "EEHHHHHHHHH! M-Mahiro l-l-l-likes G-G-Gokudera-san!"

"Shut up dame-Tsuna and let's see what happens," Reborn said from his placement ontop of Yamamoto's shoulder.

Gokudera, stared obliviously at the box of chocolates. "What the hell is it?"

"G-Gokudera-san!" Tsuna panicked at his insensitivity.

She blinked and then glanced at the box. Written on it in neat characters was: _To Reborn_. Hand still trembling slightly, she walked up towards Yamamoto and Reborn, box held out to it's intended recipient. "Here Reborn..." she mumbled looking away. She felt the weight in her hand disappeared and then reached into her bag again to pull out three more boxes. She handed them out to Yamamoto, Gokudera, and Tsuna before her hands went back to playing with the hem of her skirt.

"E-EHHHHH! M-M-Mahiro, what's this for?" Tsuna fumbled with the box in his hands, while Gokudera shook it suspiciously and Yamamoto thanked Mahiro with a cheerful grin.

A foot connected with a head with a loud smack. "It's chocolate, dame-Tsuna. Say thank you to Mahiro-chan." Reborn stuck the box into his suit to enjoy later.

"T-Thank you, Mahiro," Tsuna said, still a bit shocked.

"I don't want it, but I'll thank you anyways," said Gokudera, still eyeing the box in his hands as if it were somehow poisonous.

Yamamoto opened his box to reveal twelve round truffles of white chocolate, brown, and dark, all with intricate designs hand carved into the chocolate. "Wow, it looks delicious Mahiro-chan! Thanks again!" He grinned, popping one into his mouth.

Mahiro could only look away, unconciously making a pained whimper. She felt her heart clench at the sudden empty lightness in her bag. She'd toiled for long hours, burning her fingers several times and laboring intensively over the designs, she had made those Valentine's chocolate all with love and care and now she had given them away so heartlessly.

"Mahiro-chan say ah!" Yamamoto tapped her on the shoulder.

"'Ah'-?" she repeated as she turned back to face them and chocolatey goodness filled her mouth with joy. Her jaw ached at the sweetness and she closed her eyes to better savor the sweet.

"Hahaha. Mahiro-chan, you must have really wanted to eat some!"

She nodded her head vigorously. Tsuna facepalmed, remembering why Mahiro had been so nervous. Ever since they were kids, Mahiro had had a great love of chocolates and was always hesitant to give it away. Even now, she was still as obsessed with chocolate as she was back then but it was a surprise she'd restrained herself from eating them.

Now having satisfied her craving(not really), she draped an arm around Tsuna's shoulders, a wide grin on her face. "So Tsuna, about White day." He stiffened immediately. What could he give to Mahiro on White day? He'd never gotten anything for a girl other than his mom so it didn't count. What should he do? The questions raced through his mind a billion in a second.

Seeing his expression, Mahiro gave a small chuckle, her hand ruffling his hair. "It's alright Tsuna. The only thing I want from you is your time. For White day, I'm finally going to put you through some training. Trust me, you need it."

"W-wha-...?"

"Hahaha. What about us, Mahiro-chan?"

"You guys don't have to worry. These are Giri-choko(obligation chocolates) so you guys don't need to get me anything back. Just think of them as thanks for watching out for Tsuna. He's no good when it comes to certain things." She replied while dragging Tsuna along with her towards the school gates-they'd been standing from across the school for a while now.

"Hey!" Tsuna protested but Mahiro just ignored him as they entered the school yard. Luckily for them all, Hibari was nowhere in sight. Standing at the front of the gates was the awesome pompadour stand, Kusakabe Tetsuya. He nodded at their arrival, noting that they were on time.

Mahiro felt a perverse urge to reach out and poke the pompadour before trying to grab it and then using it to swing its person around. Her hopes were sadly dashed when they made their way to the classroom and school began without a hitch.

Sitting at the back of the room was always a fun experience. One of Mahiro's favorite past times was people watching. You would be amazed at the kind of weird shit people do when they think no one's watching them. One would rub at their nose to cover up the fact that they were actually digging for gold, another would try to fix their wedgie in various inconspicuous ways, and another would be a creepy stalker in the making, staring at a certain classmate the whole morning. Can you guess who the last one was?

Ding. Ding. It was none other than Mahiro's loveable and weakling best friend dame-Tsuna. Staring and staring and staring. She could of sworn he was trying to send the popular Kyoko Sasagawa telepathic messages for her to give him some chocolates. And from the looks of it, he'd failed. By the time the bell had rang for lunch, Tsuna had completely forgotten that he had at least gotten chocolates from a girl, but Mahiro guessed that hers paled in comparison with chocolates from the girl that he liked.

She got up to follow Yamamoto, Gokudera, and Tsuna up to the roof for lunch like she had been doing lately, before Kyoko and Hana intercepted her.

"Ano, Mahiro-chan. I was wondering if you would mind coming over to Sawada-san's house later with me," Kyoko said. "If you're not busy that is."

"Uh, what for?" The school's idol inviting her to someone else's house?

Hana answered for Kyoko. "It's to make chocolates. Kyoko-chan doesn't know how to make any and so she was planning on heading over to Sawada's house to learn how to make some."

Mahiro had a bad feeling about this. "Who's going to teach you? Nana-san, right?"

Kyoko smiled. "Oh, no. It's Bianchi-san. She's going to help me and Haru-san make some later for Sawada-san and the others."

"No tha-sure," she amended quickly. Let Bianchi, that poison assassin with her ability to turn everything into a poisonous substance be put in charge of the creation of chocolate? Mahiro would rather call up her brothers.

"Thanks. See you after school, Mahiro-chan." Kyoko and Hana left to go have their lunch, leaving Mahiro to plot and fantasize. She could almost taste it, smooth and melting across her tongue. Her body heated up as she remembered last night, how her hands worked and manipulated the chocolate on the table top, smoothing sheer sheets of brown silk against the counter. Her face was a mask of sheer ecstasy, causing the people around to give her a wide berth.

Then Mahiro remembered the last chocolate box in her bag and her good mood disappeared like smoke.

"Herbivore, what are you doing here?" Hibari sneered. Mahiro fought the need to leap over the desk and slam the box of chocolates down his smug, prissy little face. But her babies deserved better than that, her babies deserved _better_ than this asshole.

With a quick flick of the wrist, the box was on Hibari's desk. His gaze flickered to the box then back to her, apprehensively. "What's this?"

"It's chocolate. What does it look like?" Mahiro ignored Hibari's threatening growl.

"It's Giri-choko just so you know. If you don't want it I can always eat it," Mahiro said bluntly.

"Hn," was his reply.

And then it hit her. Not his tonfas or anything dangerous like that, unless you count a thought as dangerous, which it quite possibly is since an idea(and a Guy Faulkes mask) can start a revolution. Anyways, Mahiro remembered why him calling her herbivore was completely fine with her. (Most OCs in KHR fics have some sort of problem with being called herbivores by Hibari. They either get indignant, defensive, or hurt by it. Fucking PUSSIES. Mahiro, well, she has no problem because the title herbivore fit her perfectly).

"Ne. I just remembered. Those chocolates are also for your carnivorous self." He gave her a smug look. She ignored it and went on. "You're right about me and everyone else, especially Tsuna being herbivores. I have no interest in getting involved in a romantic relationship and Tsuna, he's really passive about it. Since you're a carnivore, that must mean that you're actively seeking a partner, amirite?" She said with a shit eating grin.

His eyes narrowed into slits, already half out of his seat with tonfas in hand. A shame that Mahiro was already gone. Hibari snarled with frustration, slipping his tonfas back into his sleeves. Slumping back into his chair, Hibari regarded the cheerfully wrapped box on his desk.

"I hate chocolates."

* * *

Mahiro grimaced, tears filling her eyes as she bagged and rebagged the sad puddle of waste that Bianchi had reduced the first cracker batch into. Every food product that Bianchi had touched had turned poisonous almost immediately. Mahiro could only hope that Bianchi didn't go anywhere near Haru's and Kyoko's pots of melted chocolate. Saluting the bubbling pots, Mahiro vowed silently to protect them to the last breath.

Mahiro had been told by the girls that it was okay for her to just sit and watch since she had already given her chocolates to the others already. But there was no way that Mahiro could do nothing while Bianchi worked her evil upon the innocent. Mahiro kept busy with whisking food items away from Bianchi's treacherous grasps. She heard the door sliding open behind her and turned, catching a glimpse of Tsuna's worried face and Fuuta's blank gaze before the ingredients began floating around.

"Who's there?" Bianchi shouted, scaring away Tsuna and Fuuta. Mahiro shook her head, disappointed at how pathetic Tsuna continued to prove himself. Come White day, Mahiro was going to start the beatings uh...training to instill some bad assery into him.

The girls went back to stirring their chocolates as Bianchi excused herself to go and ask Reborn about his preferences. Mahiro blanched, nowadays the creepy little baby had been giving her some weirdly appraising looks and Mahiro could only guess that he was planning something _uncomfortable_ for her.

"Ne, so Mahiro-chan how close are you to Tsuna-san?" Haru asked, breaking Mahiro out of her thoughts.

She turned to face Tsuna's stalker, er prospective wife. "Since we were two but I moved away when I was six."

"So you won't steal Tsuna-san away from Haru right?" the girl replied, determination lighting up in her eyes. "Haru will fight for her love Mahiro-chan even if you are a friend!"

Kyoko patted the girl on the back trying to calm her down. "Haru-san I don't think Sawada-san and Mahiro-chan's relationship is like that. Is it?"

Mahiro couldn't help but pity Tsuna. The girl he liked was encouraging his stalker in the battlefield of love. "Nope," she answered. "But Haru-chan, what exactly is it that you like about Tsuna?" The question had really been bugging her. Tsuna was cute in a little animal kind of way and he was also kind, caring, and thoughtful but what made this stalker chick want to marry him so bad?

"Haru likes Tsuna-san because he's strong, brave and kind!"

The last part she could believe but the first two? Strong? Brave? Mahiro nodded. "I see." She said flatly. _Bitch be trippin'. _Her inner voice sang.

"Mahiro-chan, do you have anyone you like so far?" Kyoko asked, her soprano voice light and angelic. Really, she was cute but a bit oblivious to certain things(i.e. Tsuna's feelings).

"Nope. Why?"

"Well, it's Valentine's day and you were giving out chocolates so I was wondering if you gave some to a person you liked."

Mahiro waved a hand. "Nonsense, Kyoko-chan. Those chocolates were all Giri-choko. Trust me, if they were Honmei-choko I would have had an even harder time giving them away."

"Why's that?" the two girls tilted their heads in curiosity. Cute. They were really cute even if they were a bit dense. Mahiro wasn't interested in girls in that way but that didn't mean that she didn't know how to appreciate cute things.

"Because I would've eaten it instead." Mahiro replied with a self deprecating grin. "I don't do so well with chocolates in the room and me not getting any of it. Especially if I'd spent a lot of time making it." As if on cue, she took out a solid bar of Godiva chocolate from her bag and took a bite out of it, savoring the taste.

"Ah I see." Kyoko giggled. "Anyways, the chocolate's ready!"

"Mm, but Bianchi-san isn't back yet. She's in charge of the crackers." The two girls turned off the stove and let their chocolate fondue cool. Haru started up the conversation again.

"Mahiro-chan, if you're not busy, lets hang out tomorrow! Kyoko-chan and Haru will show you around Namimori and our favorite cake shop! It's been a while since you've been here so some things might've changed, right?"

It sounded fun and Mahiro would like a tour around the place even if she'd memorized the map already. Cake would also be good but she remembered her financial problems at the moment. "Sorry, I'd love to but I was thinking of job hunting tomorrow. Thanks though."

"Oh that's alright! We can do it some other time," Kyoko smiled. Mahiro could see why Tsuna was in love with her. "For now let's bring the chocolate to Sawada-san and the others."

Bianchi entered the kitchen just as they carried the pots of chocolate up the stairs to Tsuna's room. Mahiro had offered to help them carry it to which the two girls said replied that they were fine. On the last step of the stairs, Haru stumbled forward.

"HAHI!" she cried as Mahiro's right hand curled around Haru's waist catching her and pulling her back while the other steadied her and the pot. Luckily, no chocolate was spilled. Haru turned to face her savior cheeks red. "Th-Thank you Mahiro-chan. Haru thought she was going to fall and spill the chocolate."

"It's alright," Mahiro replied, letting go of the girl.

"This is weird, Haru's heart is going doki doki just like when Tsuna-san saved Haru. Mahiro-chan is like a prince. No, a hero!" Eyes shining, the girl leaned in towards Mahiro, hands still holding the pot of white chocolate. "Ma-hiro. Hiro. Hero! Mahiro-chan, can I call you Hero-chan!"

Kyoko giggled. "Mahiro-chan _was_ sort of like a hero there."

"Uh, sure..." was Mahiro's reply. She wasn't going to tell them that the only reason she'd bothered catching the girl, was because she had been carrying the pot of melted chocolate. Mahiro loved white chocolate even if it wasn't actually considered chocolate. "Let's go give them their chocolate."

"Hai!" they two girls agreed as Mahiro opened Tsuna's bedroom door and then moved out of the way for them.

"Thanks for waiting guys! Valentine's chocolate is done!"

"Smell's good!" said Tsuna.

Indeed it does, Tsuna. Indeed it does, Mahiro thought. She felt as if her saliva glands were working overtime. The perfume of chocolate rose around her, embracing her like the arms of a lover. Mahiro felt hot.

"Wow the chocolate's like soup!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"This is chocolate fondue. You dip crackers into it!" The girls explained.

Mahiro cringed as she saw the approaching figure carrying a tray of grand terrors. "Please eat up," Bianchi said. "I made crackers." Tsuna and Fuuta's shock was hilarious. As much as Mahiro wanted a taste of the yummy fondue, she wasn't going to risk it with Bianchi's poisonous crackers. She'd never tried Bianchi's poison cooking before but from Tsuna's and Gokudera's reactions, it was quite painful.

"Hero-chan, why don't you try some!" exclaimed Haru as she offered a cracker to Mahiro who paled and instantly took out a chocolate bar, nibbling nervously on it.

"N-no thanks. I'm good."

"Okay!" the girl said cheerfully before changing her target to Tsuna. "Tsuna-san!"

Taking the chance to lean back against the wall and enjoy her chocolate peacefully, Mahiro watched her poor friend try to escape eating Bianchi's poisonous crackers without offending the two girls and their chocolate.

"That was smart thinking there 'Hero-chan.'"

She glanced down to see Reborn standing by her side also watching Tsuna's and the other's antics. "Haru thinks I'm like a hero for catching her when she tripped," she explained.

The baby merely nodded. "Show up next Sunday at Nami-chu. You're going to go play in the snow with Tsuna and the kids." At Mahiro's objection he cut her off. "You look restless. This will help and you'll get to know Tsuna's other subordinates better."

She nodded in understanding, a bit curious as to how Reborn could tell that she was feeling a bit off. After the whole purse theft episode where she had let the guy off with only a warning, she had felt a bit weird. She blamed it on her withdrawal symptoms. Never had Mahiro ever gone more than two weeks without beating the crap out of someone and the last time that Mahiro checked, she'd been in Namimori for at least two months or so already. She didn't count her fights with Hibari since most of them had to do with her blocking, dodging, and then running away, trying not to cause any trouble.

At first she had liked the calm and peacefulness that inundated the entirity of Nami-chu, but now it was just suffocating. Mahiro spends most nights now, furiously pumping sit ups and push ups. Hopelessly working her body in a bid to tire herself out enough to sleep(her abs and biceps were _incredible_ now.) Mahiro was a hot blooded person and a fighter, _her_ definition of peace was the time spent preparing for the next battle. The boredom was so painful at times that she briefly considered heading back to Tokyo just to have a good fight. And then her sanity raises it's head and reminds her why she'd left in the first place; to get away from her suffocating family. Was it better to stick with Tsuna and Reborn and suffocate in peace here, or suffocate within the loving arms of her annoying family? Mahiro snorted, _well, _that's_ no contest_ she thought dully, ignoring the loud hysterical shrieks from over where the girls and Fuuta were. Even if being a normal school girl was boring, hanging around Tsuna's family was fun. Even though they were all a bunch of weirdos.

Taking another bite out of her chocolate bar, Mahiro answered, "I'll come but I might be late since I'm looking for a job." She caught the menacing glint in Reborn's eye. "And no, I don't need your help in finding a job. I'll find one myself, got it Reborn? So don't try anything funny."

"As long as you show up." Reborn said flippantly.

* * *

Sunday.

It was the day that she was supposed to meet Tsuna and the others at school and also the day that she was having a job interview. It was early in the morning. So early it was still dark, with the sun a bright sliver at the horizon. The job was at a fast food joint, a good five miles from her house at a place called Papa's Tasty Fritters. The pay was $7.50 an hour and they had a position open. Mahiro could only hope that they would hire her regardless of her age.

The building looked like any other fast food building. Small, squat, and squashed between other buildings on the sloping street with plenty of windows and glass doors. The outsides were a bland, pastel color that looked like it had been white a very very long time ago before the smog of traffic added it's patina of anti-gloss. The sign was carved, and as Mahiro squinted up, she realized that it had been hand carved out of wood that they'd painted to look like stone. It _had_ to be wood, because you just don't get that swirly look on those S's without some serious powertools. Other than that strangely poignant detail, there was nothing that stuck out about the joint. It looked plain. When she entered, a quiet jingle rang out over head. A tall bald man with a thick black mustache that curled upwards, ducked out from behind a door. Mahiro stared in fascination, _he looked like a wrestler._

"Hello, how can I help you?" He asked, a twinkle appearing by his eyes.

Mahiro ignored it. "I'm here about the job offer...?"

He scrutinized her, taking in her short height and young face. "How old are you?"

"Fourteen."

His answer was a simple, "No."

" I need this job" Mahiro said bluntly.

"Papa has no need for minors. Come back in two years then maybe I'll hire you." With that he walked away to wipe the tables.

Mahiro felt her blood start to boil, and took in several deep breaths to calm herself before walking towards the cheerfully humming man. "I'm Hisagi Mahiro and I would like to work here at Papa's Tasty Fritters, sir." She somehow managed not to make the _sir_ sound like _'you shitty fuck'_."I _need_ this job."

At the name of Hisagi he stopped what he was doing and looked up, immediately clasping both of her hands. "Hisagi? Hisagi Mahiro?" he asked with excitement as sparkles started to surround him.

What. The. _Hell?_

"Uh... yes? Does this mean I get the job?"

The man nodded excitedly. "Why didn't you tell me sooner that you were darling Ma-chan! I remember when you were just an eensy weensy baby and you could barely talk. You don't know how distraught I was when Kiyo and Rai told me that you were moving to Tokyo!"

"Ah..uh huh." Mahiro uttered out. The man was currently shaking her and squealing like a teenage girl.

"Ano... Papa-san, Anko won't stop talking to the spirits and Jimmy and Shuhei are fighting." Mahiro looked up to see a girl about her age wearing the most hideous hat she'd ever seen.

"What the hell is that crap on your head?" Mahiro blurted out as the girl blushed and quickly yanked off the cap, hiding it behind her.

Papa tsked, letting go of Mahiro and placing his large hands on his hips. "Those two boys never learn and Ma-chan dear, those things on Tomiko's cap are _not_ crap but _fritters_."

"_Fritters_?" Mahiro tried the words out. The after images of that _hat_ floated in front of her eyes like a menacing jellyfish.

"Yes, fritters. You'll start on tomorrow. Make sure you get here directly afterschool. I'll introduce you to the others and tell you what your job is." He pushed up his sleeves with a special sparkle in his eyes. "Right now, I have to teach those two boys a lesson!" And with that he went into the back leaving Mahiro and the girl staring awkwardly at each other in silence.

"So.. um.. sorry about the crap thing..."

The girl burst out laughing. "Haha. That's the exact same thing I thought too when I got hired. It's not really required but it makes Papa happy." Offering out a hand she introduced, "I'm Yamada Tomiko. It's nice to meet you. I hope we get along well." She glanced back towards where Papa had gone. "The others are a bit eccentric, so..." she drifted off as Mahiro shook her hand.

As a customer drifted in, she dismissed herself to tend to the customer. As Mahiro was leaving she heard Tomiko say, "Papa's Tasy Fritters. What can I frit for you?"

A shudder ran down her spine. What can I _frit_ for you? Hoping that she wasn't going to be expected to say those words at her new workplace, she made her way to Nami-chu.

Pulling the yellow scarf around her neck up and pulling her knit hat down, she slipped on her mittens and entered the school grounds just as a large blast erupted from the school yard. When the smoke cleared she took in the sight before her. Lying in the snow were several men dressed in black suits and the gang from Tsuna's house. The giant turtle from Death Mountain, Yamamoto and a blonde were stuck in a snowball and Tsuna was cowering on the ground.

Her one inch heeled boots barely made a sound as she walked over towards Tsuna, taking out a gun from the backpack slung against her back.

"Ciaossu, Mahiro." Reborn popped up, dressed, as always in his slick looking suit and tie.

"Eh, so you guys are done playing already?" she said with disappointment and shot at Tsuna with the gun, jolting him from his cowering.

"AHHHHH! M-M-Mahiro! What are you doing here? And what the hell was that!" Tsuna exclaimed.

"A water gun." She said baldly, and turned her attention to Reborn. "So it's over? I was really hoping on having a snowball fight." She reloaded the gun with an ominous click.

Reborn smirked. "Tsuna, get ready for round two!"

"EHHHHH!"

Slinking from around the school building was none other than the infamous prefect, an amused smirk on his face as he eyed the last two people still capable of playing the game. Mahiro bared her teeth humorlessly back while Tsuna cowered like a frightened puppy.

"Baby," he nodded his acknowledgement towards Reborn.

"EHHHHHH! I thought you had prefect business to take care of!" Tsuna squealed.

"I finished early." Hibari smiled. Tsuna would've whimpered if Mahiro hadn't kneed him in the back of his head. As it was, the poor high strung boy hunched over and moaned in pain instead. Mahiro and Reborn shared a look of understanding. It would of had been better if Tsuna had showed no reaction at all, but the only thing more pathetic than a Don-to-be whimpering in pain, was a Don-to-be who whimpered in fear.

_You've still got a long way to go Tsuna._ Mahiro thought as Tsuna blinked the black spots away from his vision. Reborn seemed to agree with Mahiro's reasoning, because he didn't pull out his weird shapeshifting gun and give her a couple of new holes in her head.

"The game will be search and destroy. Round two will be the three of you trying to incapacitate each other. The last one standing wins," Reborn explained.

"EHHH?"

Mahiro patted Tsuna's shoulder. "Sounds fun and don't worry Tsuna. You're with me."

"Eh? Is that all right?" Tsuna looked at Hibari and Reborn with worry.

"Weakling herbivores will crowd together in the guise of being strong," Hibari sneered, tonfas at the ready. Mahiro's eyes narrowed, her hand clenching so on Tsuna's shoulder that Tsuna cried out in pain(quietly that is, because Mahiro glared at him out the corner of her eye).

"A subordinate must protect the boss." Reborn shrugged in a very gallic way.

"So when do we start the game?" asked Tsuna timidly, trying to marshall his face into something not resembling fear.

"Now," said Mahiro as she shot Hibari in the face with her water gun. Bang, motherfucker, Mahiro thought with satisfaction. "Alright, Tsuna let's run!" She laughed maniacally at the look of pure murder on that too pale, prissy-face prefect, and dragged Tsuna behind her while they dashed to relative safety.

It had been so long that over the years, he'd forgotten why he'd even hung out with a person like her. All that he could recall was that Mahiro had been his best friend, tormentor, and bully and- "M-Mahiro! We'll going to get killed! WHY DID YOU SHOOT HIBARI IN THE FACE WITH HOT WATER!"

She laughed, looking over her shoulder but never slowing her pace down. "Scared Tsuna?"

He could only manage a weak nod as he saw Hibari catching up to them. Mahiro grinned, and Tsuna shuddered, his friend's teeth looked _sharp_.

"Just like old times. Remember what I used to tell you. Just keep your eyes on my back and everything'll be alright!"

"WHAT! BUT IT'S HIBARI! HE'LL BITE US TO DEATH!"

"It'll be fine!" the girl reassured, turning back to shoot another spray at the angry prefect and dodging some of the snowballs he threw. Her braids whipped free of her scarf, and it had the same effect on Tsuna as the sight of a nation's banner, raised high and proud to a demoralized soldier on the gutters of the battlefield. Tsuna's breath caught in his throat, and just like that, a young voice inside him said; _Oh..._

_Oh _right. Her hair was longer now, but back then, her hair had whipped in the wind just like this. Both of them beaten bloody, panting and exhausted, cornered by the larger children thirsting to subjugate someone else, on the verge of getting pummeled, Tsuna remembered the look of her boyishly stocky back, the inspiring terror of her toothy grin. And her words then; _Scared Tsu-kun?_

Tsuna's feet, that slipped and slid in the snow slammed down in the next steps with a steady firmness and alacrity that had been missing these past seven years. The air that ripped and tore in his throat came out with a weak chuckle. Mahiro glanced back at him, the very same toothy grin parting her cheeks.

_Scared Tsuna? _A chubby boy laughed while tugging Tsuna out from behind him. Tsuna remembered what he'd said then, what he'd felt as the older, scarier children closed in from the opening of the alley. Bright dark eyes glowed with ferocious energy, _scared Tsuna? _Tsuna grinned, his brown eyes gleaming like sparks struck off a flint, "Scared?"

Hibari closed in from behind, tonfas whirling. Tsuna laughed "What's there to be afraid of?"

Mahiro's grin was bright enough to burn out the sun. Tsuna ducked, and Mahiro swung high with her water gun. Hibari's momentum was too fast to be stopped, and the cheap plastic cracked and shattered across Hibari's face. Hot water stung the Prefect's cuts as he stumbled flat onto his face, Tsuna stared down at him, adrenaline still pumping through his veins. Reborn watched how his charge stood a little taller, his face a little calmer, and his eyes, his eyes burning with something other than fear when he turned and glowered at the snickering girl next to him.

"WHO BRINGS A WATER GUN TO A SNOWBALL FIGHT, ANYWAYS!"

The girl just smirked. Hisagi Mahiro. That was who.

* * *

**A/N: So I had an idea about a crossover between this KHR fic and my VK fic as a special. What do you guys think? Mahiro meeting Ibuki, that would be the grandest thing ever! Tell me what you think fellas! Just click the pretty box below and tell me your thoughts.  
**


	5. Tsuna and Hiro

**Disclaimer: This is five chapters late but KHR does not belong to me. It belongs to Amano Akira. Mahiro, the Hisagi family, and Papa's Tasty Fritters belongs to sky of c-o-l-o-r-s**

**A/N: I've only just noticed how well my username fits the KHR world and I've had it long before I even started reading/watching it. This chapter has been BETA-ed(fished) by my sis. Enjoy.**

**Warning: Contains animal abuse, alcohol use, sugar, tranquilizing guns, large amounts of chocolate, blood, vomit, fritters, and crack.**

**Last Chapter: **_Mahiro gives chocolates, save chocolates from doom, gets a job, and shoots Hibari with a water gun filled with hot water during a snowball fight. _

* * *

**Chapter 5**

_The gravel bit into Tsuna's already bruised cheek as he fell flat onto his face. Tsuna wanted to cry, could already feel the heavy hotness welling up in his throat but he couldn't even breathe right now without wanting to barf. One of the bigger ones, he couldn't remember who, had punched him in his belly. He winced and curled up in fetal position as the older kids drew their legs back to kick him. Tsuna really wanted to cry. He knew that they weren't going to stop anytime soon; they were having too much _fun. _But Tsuna couldn't _**breathe! **_Tsuna caught a kick to his side with an elbow, tuning out the jeering laughter and insults as they kicked and kicked. A power ranger sneaker caught him full in the face when his guard slipped, and Tsuna screamed. His vision exploded in a flash of white hot pain. The bigger boys jerked back, some of them snickering nervously. "Listen to him, he sounds like a girl." One of the smaller boys sniggered. _

_Tsuna felt a trickle of something hot run down his face. The boys moved further back, "Eww, he's bleeding." Power ranger sneakers said with disgust. _

_Tsuna swiped his face with his grubby hands and whimpered at the smear of red. And noticed how his hands, even after being used to protect himself, were the cleanest part of him. Tsuna stared down at them as if he'd never truly seen them before, and felt shame. They were the only part of him without bruises because he'd never _ever_ fought back. Not even when bruised and bleeding like now. His hands were pale, limp, _pathetic _just like the rest of the person they were attached to. Dame-Tsuna they called him at school. No good, can't even protect himself from getting hurt. Tsuna felt tears make twin tracks down his face._

_"Oi," The sound of gravel crunching announced someone new to join Tsuna's pity party. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Through the surrounding boys, and a haze of tears, Tsuna could just make out the outline of a short, chubby figure with a bat as long as he was. Tsuna's bullies turned to confront the newcomer, and Tsuna could see, just a little bit, how the boy trembled. But there was something about how he trembled that reminded the six year old boy of the vicious pit-bull his neighbors used to keep before they had to put it down. The pit used to shake just like that before he tried to disembowel somebody. Tsuna, with the extraordinary survival instincts developed through a good two years of school bullying, shrank down like a good prey animal._

_"Hah? Another brat?" The older boys exchanged obligatory sneers before the leader, who looked like a ten year old going on twenty, chuckled with pure nastiness. "I guess we can give you a thrashing too along with dame-Tsuna. He's just no fun. Let's see what you can do with that bat, kiddo."_

_Tsuna couldn't see his protector's face but he just knew that on that chubby and round face was a smirk that would reveal one new tooth growing in, the baby tooth having just been recently lost. And the whole of the sum, would still equate in a fearsome, bloodthirsty grin. There was a scuffle, in which power ranger sneakers dove forward leading with a punch, and then there was a loud sickening smack that had power ranger sneakers crumpling like a screaming house of cards. At least two of his fingers, Tsuna noticed, were folded the wrong way._

_The young boy with the bat took advantage of the group's confusion and yanked Tsuna to his feet, dragging him behind. Tsuna followed willingly, his feet slipping and stumbling along the way. _

_"M-Mahiro! S-S-slow down! I ca-ca-can't breathe!" Tsuna cried, gasping for breath._

_Shining eyes, so dark that they were almost black, glanced back behind, briefly taking in the number of pursuers before meeting Tsuna's wide and tear filled eyes. "It's alright, Tsuna. Scared?"_

_Tsuna nodded, his free hand wiping away the tears in his eyes. "Y-yes!"_

_"Don't be. See, watch," Mahiro said, stopping in the middle of the street. She held Tsuna close by her, waiting for the bullies to reach the intersection._

_"M-Mahiro-nii! We have to go! Or else, those bad people will get us!" sniffled Tsuna worriedly._

_"Don't be. Just watch." She said again without an ounce of fear in her._

_As the bullies reached the intersection, four kids stepped out from the sides, each of them cracking their knuckles. Two were twins, both fourteen years of age, one with black hair the other with reddish brown. The other two, twelve and nine sharing the same colorings as the twins. The twelve year old was the only girl in the group of boys, and stepped up to intercept the bullies. With black hair in two low pigtails and a cheerful smile on her face, nothing from the girl's expression gave any warning to the harsh beating that would follow. _

_"Get out of the way! Especially you two, Manabu and Masahiro! We've got brats to beat up!" the leader of the bullies yelled, spittle flying everywhere. The two twins barely moved a muscle._

_"Didn't you hear him! Do you want to get beaten up too? Damn stupid twins!" another shouted before swinging at the girl._

_"We could care less about Tuna but since you plan on going after Mahiro-chan..." She caught the punch and tightened her grip, elicitating a pained groan from the bully. "We'll demolish you."_

_With that, Mahiro dragged Tsuna away again, Tsuna wincing at each gargled scream and moan coming from behind them. "See? What did I tell you? There's no need to be scared."_

_"B-But what about those guys!"_

_Mahiro replied with a kick to Tsuna's shin, immediately bringing Tsuna down to the ground. "I-I-Itai!"_

_"You're an idiot."_

_"E-Eh? But those guys... are they going to be alright?"_

_A punch made its way to Tsuna's face._

_"ITAI!" Tsuna was lying on the ground, pudgy hands cradling his cheek, trying to keep his tears from coming. _

_Mahiro stood over him, dark eyes boring into the pathetic existence called her punching bag, er friend. "Oi, stop crying. Boys aren't supposed to cry this easily. Do you want to be called no good all your life?" _

_"B-but, I can't help it," Tsuna whimpered. _

_The caramel haired boy cracked his knuckles, small grin on his face. "Can I punch you? Can I really punch you?"_

_At the spikey haired boy's 'HIIIEE!' Mahiro settled for a pat on the head instead. They were both the same age although Tsuna was older by three months, but Mahiro was taller by a few centimeters. She should be the one calling Tsuna, nii-chan instead of the other way around but it fit her more. It annoyed her how he still didn't realize that she was a girl. "You're too nice, Tsuna. You even care about those guys who just bullied you."_

_"Eh...? B-b-b-but I f-f-f-feel bad for t-t-t-them." Because if Mahiro was mean in the way how she dealt with bullies in general, Tsuna could guess(correctly) that Mahiro's nee-chan and nii-chans would be absolutely vicious._

_"Stop stuttering." She looked around the streets until she was satisfied that there were no pursuers. The bullies would've been taken cared of already. She was just worried that her siblings would show up. She pulled him up again and then pulled him along. "You need to grow a back bone, Tsuna. This is why you're always getting bullied. You're not no good, but people think that 'cause you're a pushover. I hate it."_

_"M-Mahiro, but I really d-d-don't mind..." he said weakly. "I-I-I'm f-..." Mahiro's glare shut him up._

_"Listen here, Tsuna. Being kind and gentle and goodhearted is good. But you're too kind and weak so people like those guys will take advantage of you. They stole your money again and you let them beat you up. You have to stand up for yourself."_

_The older boy sniffled again, tears that had just started to lessen falling once again. "B-b-but I'm scared. If I try to... those bad kids will try to hurt me even more."_

_She let go of his hand, causing him to look up at her. Tsuna could see only her back. "Tsuna. As long as you just keep your eyes on my back, everything'll be okay. I hope that soon though, you'll be able to stand by me instead of behind me. We're friends right? So we should always face things head on together, side by side instead of one cowering behind the other."_

_Mahiro looked over her shoulder, hand reaching out towards him, grin on her face._

_Tsuna smiled through the tear and reached his hand out towards hers. "Ri-"_

_BANG!_ "Dame-Tsuna, wake up. You're going to be late for school and Mafia bosses are never late."

Tsuna shot up from his bed, already pulling on his uniform and grabbing his school bag, before racing down the stairs out the front door. "HIIIIIIIE! Oh no, I'm going to be late again!" he shrieked, not even bothering to glance at the time this morning. He buttoned up his shirt, smoothing it out in an attempt to look(at the very least), as if he _met_ the uniform code and standards. What was the point of making it to school on time if he would get bitten to death by the school's carnivorous prefect?

"Good morning Juudaime!"

"Hahaha. Morning Tsuna!"

Standing at his front door were Gokudera and Yamamoto. "Morning guys!" Tsuna greeted hastily. "Let's go, I can't be late to school again!" He raced off, Yamamoto and Gokudera not far behind. Tsuna really couldn't be late again. The consequences were deadly for lateness. Not only was there Hibari to deal with but then there was Reborn. He shuddered at the thought.

Up ahead, he could see Mahiro approaching the school gates. He rose his hand to grab onto her shoulder, calling out to her. "G-Good morning Ma-HIIIIIIIIEEE!" Before he knew it, he was lying on the dirt ground, staring up at the sky, stunned.

"Juudaime, are you alright?! Oi, stupid woman how could you throw Juudaime over your shoulder like that?!" Gokudera chided, rushing over to Tsuna to give him a hand. Yamamoto laughed.

"M-Mahiro," Tsuna said weakly. "What was that for?"

Two dark orbs bore into him, an eyebrow twitching, her mouth a thin line. "Don't sneak up behind me." Mahiro abruptly walked off, school bag hung over her shoulder.

"Oi! Woman don't ignore Juudaime!" yelled Gokudera.

Tsuna laughed weakly as he got up and brushed the dirt off his uniform. "Maa, maa. Mahiro-chan sure is funny, ne Tsuna?" he heard Yamamoto say.

"Aa." Tsuna nodded, still surprised by the way Mahiro reacted. Usually, Mahiro would greet him back with a slap on the shoulder.

"Come to think of it, didn't Mahiro-chan recently get a job?" Yamamoto asked. Tsuna hadn't heard anything about Mahiro getting a job so it was only expected that Tsuna would be shocked.

"EHHH?! Really? She's got a job!?" That must be the reason why she'd been acting weird. He felt a foot connect with his head and his body slam down on the pavement again. "I-Itai!"

Reborn appeared as if on cue with Tsuna's ignorance, hanging out of a tree in an acorn costume. A giant one, mind you. His beady little eyes twinkled, but Tsuna let it go as it was probably a trick of the light or something. "Dame-Tsuna. Get to class before you're late. We'll discuss Mahiro's job some other time."

"H-Hai!" Tsuna said before passing through the gates. Tsuna froze, terror swamping his veins in useless, _useless_ adrenaline as a dark shadow slid out from the corner. Hibari's pale face seemed to glow unnaturally as he sneered down at him. His tonfa made a silken sound through the air.

"For disorderly dress of the Namimori school uniform, you will be bitten to death." Oh _great_, thought Tsuna. First Mahiro throws him onto the ground and now... now he was going to get bitten to death even if he wasn't late!

* * *

Tsuna rubbed his throbbing arms pitifully, hissing underneath his breath while the teacher called out the attendance list.

"Sawada, Tsunayoshi?"

Tsuna prodded a purpling area on his forearm, absently noting how it blended wonderfully with the rest of the colorful green, yellows, and reds. "Here."

"Hisagi, Mahiro?"

"Gnaaaaaaargrgrgrg-" Tsuna wasn't much of a morning person either, but he'd forgotten about how..._difficult_ Mahiro could be to wake. Obviously, she'd came to school barely half awake but...Tsuna sniffed. He frowned, he could smell... grease.

The teacher frowned, his dark brown eyes steely underneath his comb-over. He'd been a teacher in the gang-infested classrooms of Tokyo, once a discipline monitor to one of the most heavily drug trafficked college campuses of Ikebukuro, and had been and continue to be one of the most highly requested teachers of Japan before some sociopath of a boy had offered him a position here, in small town Namimori(it was more a mixture of threats and offers of a raise that had cemented his stay here and he was still very sure that Hibari was connected to the yakuza in some kind of way)so he thought that he'd soon teach _this_ young child a lesson she won't soon forget.

"Huuurrggrgrgrg-snarggrgrg-_koffkoffkoff"_ A pause as Mahiro sucked back her drool noisilly, then again, "Gnaaaaargrgrgrgrg-gnaaaargrgrgrg-GNAAAAAAARRRRRGRGRGRGRGRGRGR GRRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRGRG"

At this point, even the students who'd crammed all night for another class was wide awake, and the teacher was grabbing the pointer for the board, and making sure all of his round-eyed students saw him as he sauntered down the aisle.

Tsuna really, really wanted to facepalm himself. _Why?_ He thought miserably to the universe, _Why is it that I'm always put in the position of either sacrificing my ass for the scum of the species, or becoming one myself?_ Tsuna wouldn't even be able to blame Ma-chan for the bloody beating she'd be sure to deliver on whomever disturbed her sleep, he'd beat his ass too for being such a busy bodied-goody-two-shoes.

Memories can be funny things. Anything could trigger them, a certain shade of brown will bring tears to even the most hardened convict's eyes when he remembers the very first chocolate sunday he shared with his old Gran-Gran. The sharp odor of pee, crayons, and sweat will throw anyone back to the carefree days of Kindergarten. A song turns mature college students back into six year old girls wishing they were Sailor Moon. Anything, literally anything can be a trigger.

Tsuna was already halfway out of his seat when the sheer insanity of what he was about to bring upon himself finally registered, along with a low, raspy childish voice that came right out of his past, and pulled the trigger flush against Tsuna's metaphorical barrel.

"_Oi, shit's for brains." _

Tsuna did not slump back into his chair. He did not quiver in fear, guilt, or just plain apprehension while the unwary teacher approached the sleeping Mahiro. Tsuna got comfortable and just watched with a steadiness to his expression, that impressed the hidden Reborn in the ceiling.

_"Hiro-chan!" Five year old Tsuna cried. "Those are bad words! Mommy said."_

_Mahiro-chan's round, cherubic face managed to portray the amount of scorn she felt for that idea. "Tsuna." She said slowly, quietly, and above all, calmly while wrapping her sweater tightly around her arms. "Let go of that on three, kay'?"_

_Tsuna's chubby arms tightened instictively around the spitting, frothing at the mouth, cat. "Why?"_

_"Just. Do. It"_

_Tsuna shook his head, feeling brave because Mahiro wasn't hitting him and calling him bad names. "This is the Hirada's lost cat, I heard my mommy and Ms. Hirada talking on the phone and they said that they really wanted her back cause' she had to go to the hospital and I'm helping her cause that's nice and you're not nice cause' you keep calling me bad words so there!" _

_Tsuna felt elated! This was the first time that he'd ever stood up to a bully like his mom kept telling him to do back before Mahiro beat up all of them. He wasn't even really scared because he knew that Mahiro, no matter how mad he got, would never hit him hard enough to bleed like the bullies used to. But something was wrong, Mahiro didn't look even a little bit mad, in fact, he wasn't even looking at his face. Mahiro just kept on staring at the Hirada's cat._

_"Tsuna," Mahiro said, in a low, low voice. "No wonder your eyes are brown, your brain really is nothing _but _shit huh?"_

_Tsuna was going to say a bad word that he'd heard his daddy say once because he'd got mad, but then the cat got loose. Tsuna froze, and saw nothing but the flash of the cat's red, inflamed eyes. Tsuna screamed, falling back onto his butt and scrambling away on the hot gravel. The cat yowled, yellowed claws distended and swiping at his jean covered ankles. Tsuna saw how it's haunches started to bunch up, and Tsuna covered his face._

_"Fuckmothershitcockfuckprickp ussy!" Tsuna heard Mahiro scream, and Tsuna uncovered his face enough to see Mahiro blanketing the twisting, writhing cat. He also saw why Mahiro said all those bad words because the cat's head was latched onto the top part of her forearm and she was _bleeding.

_"Hiro-chan!" Tsuna screamed and he surged to his feet. _

_"Run you fucking idiot!" Mahiro roared while trying to simultaneously pin down the cat, and knee it in it's furry little belly._

_"Hiro-chan!" Tsuna sobbed. There was so much blood. So much more blood than when he scraped his knees when those boys at the playground had pushed him off the monkeybars. There was so much blood, it looked like Mahiro was going to run out and _die. He didn't want Hiro to die!_ "Don't die Hiiirooo!" _

_Mahiro screamed in frustration. "I said run you fucking dumbass! Get my brothers, or my sister!" Blood streamed down her arm to pool in the gravel. _

_Tsuna felt queasy looking at all the red stuff. "No, I-I-I gonna stay cause' you'll run out of blood by the time I c-c-c-ome ba-a-a-ck."_

_Mahiro punched the cat, ignored the angry yowl and glared. "Then go and get me a heavy rock you useless shit!"_

_It took several heavy thwacks before the cat was stunned enough to let go. Tsuna was still sobbing as he tossed away the rock and helped Mahiro up. Mahiro was heavy, and when he wobbled, Tsuna had to throw in all of his weight just to keep them both upright. But the side he was propping up also had the bitten arm in the way, and Mahiro screamed in pain, yanking it away from the unsure Tsuna. _

_"I'm sorry Hiro-chan!" Tsuna sobbed. Mahiro just held out her uninjured arm and sighed._

_"You've got fucking shits-for-brains Tsuna, fucking little brown turds rolling around in there." Was all she said and wrapped her sweater tightly around her arm._

_Tsuna's mom later told him gently that the Hirada's cat had been borderline rabid, and even more gently, that they had wanted the cat back to have it humanely put to sleep. She also gave him an hours long lecture, culminating in a puppet play titled What sort of Behavior to Spot in Dangerous Animals._

_Tsuna's dad just gave him a look, that said quite plainly(with parental affection of course)_ "Shit's for brains."

And so was the memory that froze Tsuna in _this_ act of goodwill, and forced him to take a step back mentally, _and_ asess just what kind of hell he was about to jump head first into.

Mahiro was still sleeping, and her snore continued to imitate the sound of tearing canvas. The teacher approached, pointer held high above his head like a sword to deliver judgment. The classroom held its breath...

And then the snore stopped mid rgggahgh. Mahiro opened one eye, the other she was too lazy to open, and glared through her eye boogers. The class waited to see what Saotome-sensei would do, with pointer still raised in the air.

"There a problem sensei?" Mahiro yawned, her head still laying atop the desk.

Saotome-sensei froze, hearing the underlying tone that said there had better be a problem or else she'd create a _real _problem _real _soon for him. So instead of imparting the grand justice he'd imagined, he stuttered out, "A-answer the question on t-the board, Hisagi."

Mahiro took one long look at the math question on the board before slamming both her hands down onto her desk, standing up. "IMPOSSIBRU!" she shouted. "If you deep fry a whole fritter and then take it out to divide it into tenths and then deep fry it again you can't possibly put it back together to make it the same shape again! It wouldn't even be a fritter anymore! It'd be a fry!"

The classroom did a collective sweatdrop. Saotome-sensei reeled back at the sheer absurdity of the answer. "Hisagi," he began slowly and cautiously. "The problem on the board is about using synthetic division to find the missing values, nothing about fractions. That was last week's material." He took in a deep breath, preparing himself for what was to come next. "Please go to the Disciplinary room, Hisagi."

"IMPOSSIBRU!" Mahiro shouted, still obviously half asleep. "You can't discipline a fritter! It doesn't even have a brain! Quit attributing human emotions to an inanimate food object!"

"Just _go_, Hisagi!" The teacher searched around the classroom. "You there, Tsutomu Tsunayoshi!" He pointed the pointer at a strangely calm Tsuna.

"Oi, Juudaime's name is SAWADA Tsunayoshi! SA-WA-DA!" Gokudera shouted. Saotome-sensei ignored the outburst.

"Sawada. Escort Hisagi to the Discplinary Committee's room." Tsuna quickly catalogued the chances of Mahiro bludgeroning him to death half way down the hall, but like every other middle school student, the chances of getting out of a class was too good to pass up, even _if _it meant certain death.

"Hai, sensei," Tsuna said obediently, his lightened brown eyes sure to pick out any threatening movements from the still largely unconcious Mahiro. The way how her eyes were wide, bloodshot, and unseeing didn't help any either.

Tsuna made his way to Mahiro's desk, he made sure not make any sudden movements and moved his hands very slowly in front of her face. "Mahiro," he said carefully. "You need to come with me, okay?"

It was creepy, how her neck popped when she turned her head towards him. "That'll be five ninety five, please," she said dreamily.

Tsuna felt goosebumps pop up over ninety percent of his skin. _Click._ She tilted her head to the side creepily and sang, "Welcome to Papa's Tasty Fritters, what can I frit for you today?"

Tsuna's hyper concentration almost broke. "What can you... WHAT for me?"

"Here at Papa's Tasty Fritters, we frit it all. It's a free for all," she giggled before her head slammed down onto the desk, knocking her out.

Tsuna just stared down at her prone body and then he stared pleadingly over to Yamamoto and Gokudera. _Help me_, he mouthed.

Gokudera popped up immediately but Yamamoto hahaha-ed before he did anything. It was then that the door to room 1-A opened to reveal two strange looking people. Tsuna's hyper concentration noted how they both shared the same scent. Grease.

It was a tall, angular boy who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but here and a small petite girl. They both looked like high schoolers. The boy had bleached hair, a cigarette sticking out of his sneering mouth and a few piercings on his ears that screamed delinquent. The girl was his exact opposite. She had a sweet round face with double eyelids and just a hint of lipgloss on her round full lips. Tsuna blushed, disbelieving that he'd checked out another girl other than his Kyoko-chan. _She has bigger boobs than Kyoko-chan_, a voice murmured in his head.

Another voice gasped inside his head. _Traitor_!

_All of you shut up!_ Tsuna thought fiercely.

_Oh you mad, huh?_ Another voice said.

_Wait, why is there a voice with a Kansai accent in my head?_

While Tsuna was dealing with his inner turmoil the attractive girl gasped and rushed over to where Mahiro was slumped over her desk. "Hero-kun!"

"Ma, ma," said the delinquent looking character as he shuffled his cigarette around his mouth, still standing at the front of the room. "I knew that brat wasn't going to be able to handle it. Tomiko, hurry up." He turned his attention to Saotome-sensei. "Oi, ji-ji. We're taking that wench. Ja ne." He didn't bother waiting for the girl which Tsuna felt outraged about.

"It's okay. Here I'll help you," offered Tsuna to the girl who currently had an unconcious Mahiro draped over her shoulder. "Oh," Tsuna said surprised. "You're stronger than you look."

"Most girls are, " she smiled enigmatically, which only had the boys of the class shifting uncomfortably in their seats after she left.

"Wait..." Tsuna thought. He was forgetting about something important. What was it? And then he felt his neck prickle with fear. "Oh no..." One word came to mind. Hibari. He wouldn't just let people waltz into Namimori and kidnap-was it kidnap, really?-a student. No he would bite them to death.

_I've always wondered about that_, his inner voice mused. _Just who really does that?_

_Mahiro._ Another voice retorted. _Remember that one time with that bully that stole her pudding? Her _chocolate_ pudding?_

Tsuna shivered. They'd had to get the boy six stitches and then he'd moved out of the prefecture. And Tsuna learned that all chocolate went to Mahiro. And _only_ Mahiro.

_No one kidnaps Mahiro. Mahiro does the kidnapping. _Tsuna brightened. Maybe Hibari will realize this too and not attack them, especially that cute girl.

_Highly unlikely, Tsuna. _His inner voice said. _You know him. He bites anyone and anything to death like a rabid chihuahua._

"Sawada, is there something wrong?" Saotome asked. Tsuna was still standing beside Mahiro's desk and with a contemplative look on his face. Tsuna noticed his friend's looking at him strangely. Gokudera had a nervous look on his face. _Are you mad, Juudaime? _He mouthed.

Tsuna shook his head before something crashed through the wall. It was a girl with braids and covered in white plaster dust. "You'll never take me alive! Never!" the girl screamed. "The dark side of a burned fritter will never make me their prisoner!" And with that said, she jumped across the desks and leaped out of the windows like a frog out of a frying pan.

_Enough with the fry jokes_, the voice said inside his head, exasperated.

"Wait, Hero-kun! That's dangerous!" the cute girl called out frantically. She whipped her head back to glare at her partner and the armed boy behind him. "Yamazaki, ignore that kid and help me get Hero. Papa'll be mad if Hero-kun gets into trouble."

"Yare, yare. It's the second floor. She'll break her legs and we'll catch her real easy," drawled Yamazaki.

The prefect was not amused. "Hey, you herbivores. For damage of school property and trespassing on school grounds without a visitor's pass, you will be bitten to death."

Yamazaki leered. "Oh, I'll give you something to bite."

The whole class gasped. "That's gross," someone said awestrucked.

And, "Oh my gosh! That's so hot! It's a live action shonen ai!"

Yamazaki glared at the whole classroom. He pulled out a brown crispy thing from the inside of his jacket. The wrapper said Papa's Tasty Fritters. "Ya'll nasty. It's a fritter, a _fritter_, you nasty fangirls." To Hibari, "That'll be five ninety five and if you come by with five more wrappers I'll give you a discount."

"Herbivore." Hibari lunged and then the delinquent threw down the fritter. It exploded, sending out a cloud of black smoke that smelled vaguely of curry.

"Ja ne."

When the smoke cleared, the two had disappeared leaving an angry Hibari in its wake. The class went silent and waited for him to hurry up and leave, but he turned, turned and pointed his tonfa at the still very very calm Tsuna. "You. You're associated with that other herbivore aren't you?"

Tsuna nodded very slowly, still wondering why he wasn't feeling as afraid as he should be.

"What's it to you!?" demanded Gokudera, already pulling out his dynamites.

Hibari smirked. "Hn. I'll bite _you _to death instead. I'll punish her later."

And then Tsuna's intense concentration broke and he let out a shrill shriek as Hibari advanced. "YADA! HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEE!"

Somewhere in a the ceiling, sat a baby dressed in a shiny brown cockroach suit, binoculars aimed at Tsuna's pathetic form. Tsuna had been doing pretty well before Mahiro jumped out the window. Interesting. Reborn was going to need to dig up more information on Hisagi Mahiro. The last search had turned up with barely anything. The only thing worth noting was a Kiyomi Fujiwara now a Kiyomi Hisagi, former rogue hitwoman now turned business translator. But there were literally hundreds of former hitmen and women who gave up the bloody life and turned into regular citizens. It could be perfectly innocent. Reborn smiled bitterly to himself. But he hadn't made it this far by assuming the best in people; he'd made it this far by always expecting the worse.

So that would be what he would do in this situation. Expect the worst.

* * *

Manabu Hisagi liked to think himself the perfect brother. He had the money to spoil his adorable little sister and always had time for her and if he didn't, he'd _make_ time for her. He'd do anything to protect her. Her and the rest of their family. But if he was, no he _was_ the perfect older brother, why did his sister run away and why couldn't he find her? It must be because he was such a great older brother that she'd learned to be as great at hide and go seek as he was with information. He beamed with pride.

"Bullshit!" he snapped, slamming his fist into the wall. His secretary didn't bother looking up from her work. These sort of outbursts were expected in her line of work. She continued to clack away at her laptop.

"Helga!" Manabu whirled on his heel to gesticulate wildly at his blond secretary that he had to fight a small battle to get from overseas. "Do you think I'm the perfect brother!?"

"Relatively, sir," she said in her dry Russian accent.

"If I'm the perfect brother," Manabu continued, near tears. "Then why can't I find Ma-chan!?"

"Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that she doesn't want to be found, sir?"

"But that's impossible!"

"Yes, sir. Impossible it is indeed, sir." Helga said absently, clicking open a new game of solitare.

"Are you listening to me Helga?"

"Yes, sir."

"What'd I just say, Helga?"

"'Are you listening to me Helga?'"

"Look we're not getting anywhere, Mana. Calm down and take deep breaths." Lounging in a red velvet sofa, the second oldest of the Hisagi family unwrapped a king size chocolate bar and took a large bite with relish. "Oh, that's good," he murmured.

"YOU BASTARD! I BOUGHT THAT FOR MA-CHAN!" Manabu screamed at his younger twin.

Masahiro made a 'so-what?' gesture. "You did get it for her. A month ago. At this point it'll go bad. I'm just thinking of her health, like the _best_ older brother," he sneered.

Manabu narrowed his eyes. "You _bastard_."

"Our parents were married remember? And if I'm a bastard so are you."

"I'd still be the better bastard. Right, Helga?"

Helga jerked. "Yes, sir."

The twins glared at each other. Though both were twins, Masahiro had a larger, muscular build that was almost caucasian in it's length and breadth. His jaw was broad and square, and perpetually covered in a five o'clock shadow that had the office women at his work place gushing. He had light brown eyes that could turn cold in an instant, but at the moment were cloudy with boredom. He ran his free hand over his dark hair, and then back over his jaw. "Look, all I'm saying is that maybe we should stop-"

"Stop looking for Ma-chan?!" Manabu interrupted angrily, "You bastard!"

Off in the corner, Helga cursed underneath her breath as she could no longer make any moves in her current game of solitare. Masahiro rolled his eyes. "No, you idiot. I mean, stop looking in the big cities. We've already exhausted our sources in Yokohama, Nagoya, and Osaka. Maybe we should start looking in the smaller cities, like Ikebukuro for example. Didn't Mahiro say that she wanted to visit Ikebukuro just once because she wanted to see if the Blue Squares and Yellow Scarves were still fighting?"

"That's crazy. Ma-chan's a big city kind of girl. She'd get bored in all of those tiny small towns! Come on. She hated Namimori when we still lived there." Manabu dismissed with an airy wave. Where his twin was large and rugged, Manabu was all sleek, coiffed japanese elegance. Here was a man who looked like he could create arrange flowers in a vase, make a mean cup of green tea, and then split a man's skull with japanese steel. He folded long white sinewy fingers underneath his chin and smiled idly. "Just you wait, we'll find her in Nagoya, beating the stuffing out of the local street toughs. I've taught her so well."

"Oh please," Masahiro scoffed with a mouth full of chocolate. "I remember the first time you tried teaching her how to take a punch, you started to _cry_."

Helga cursed, loudly and in Russian. "Sirs."

"Ha!" Manabu sneered, "And who was it that called 119 when she sprained her hand on that jaw of yours?"

"Sirs!"

"At least I didn't start folding paper cranes while she was recovering like Sadako-chan!"

"SIRS!" Helga roared. "OUR SOURCES HAVE INFORMED US THAT OUR NETWORK HAS REGISTERED A SEARCH DONE ON YOUR SISTER AND FURTHERMORE, YOUR MOTHER'S MAIDEN NAME!"

The two brother's heads immediately whipped in the direction of the Russian. "A hit?" they asked in unison.

"Where's it from?" Manabu asked.

"How long ago?" Masahiro jumped, up already making his way towards the blonde's work space.

A few more clacks from Helga's laptop and she'd looked up the exact time and location the search had taken place. "A Hisagi Mahiro and Fujiwara Kiyomi had been looked up at eleven hundred hours, three days ago in Italy. I've just sent a bug to their computer to glean as much information as we can from them."

"Good work, Helga," Manabu praised before sharing a meaningful look with his younger brother. "Jun's in Italy on a school trip right now, right? And Sumire's in surgery, right?"

Masahiro nodded. "I can page her but it probably won't do much good."

"Aa." To Helga, "Helga, once you get the domain name, I want his address, his number, and anything else you can dig up about him. And I want it yesterday." (Meaning he wants it pronto.)

"Yes sir," Helga purred.

"Also. Send the coordinates over to Jun. I'm sure he'll be able to find some time on his school trip to check it out."

"Yes sir."

Masahiro sighed and popped the rest of the chocolate bar down his gullet. "I should probably tell mom and dad."

"No! Are you crazy? Do you want to start a massacre!?" Manabu hissed. "If mom and dad hear about Ma-chan disappearing, you know those two'll tear up the entirety of Japan just to find their youngest child."

Masahiro grinned, his teeth a flash of white in his tanned face. "And you wanna' deal with this dumb shit yourself eh?"

Manabu brushed invisible lint off the collar of his kimono. When he looked up, something raging and animalistic stared back out. "I'm gonna' tear his ass a new one for messing with my baby girl." Manabu said softly.

Masahiro made a sound that was a shade too dark to be laughter. "Count me in. Now how are we going to tell Sumire about this? She's about as obsessive as you are about Mahiro."

"IMPOSSIBLE!" Manabu said, affronted. "I'm the only one! I was there when Ma-chan was born and the first to hold her too!"

"We were all there and the first to hold Mahiro was the doctor. After that came dad, mom, and then you."

"So?"

"My point exactly."

Helga went back to playing solitare but then she gave up as new information popped up onto her screen. She sighed, she knew that her boss wouldn't give a rat's ass about the yakuza gang, the Momokyokai, getting a new boss after the last one had gotten his ass beat by a mysterious group. She wondered why she had accepted this job in the first place. Her boss barely made any moves with the information he handled. No, all he did was sell them for very high prices and occasionally help his younger brother out on his cases.

Helga wasn't used to working for the good guys but she supposed she'd get used to it in time. She was paid almost as well as her last job.

* * *

A smooth featured young teenage boy waved at the giggling crowd of Italian school girls from across the fountain, but when they turned around, the cheerful smile disappeared like smoke and he clutched his cell phone in his pocket.

_Someone's been looking up Mahiro's and mom's names. The search took place in Italy, so once Helga's got the coordinates and the address, **deal with it**._

_P.S. Make sure you bring back some souvenirs for Sumire. She won't stop asking for some. Manabu wants you to bring back Mahiro but he's crazy so ignore him. I want some authentic Italian spaghetti, so bring some back lil' bro._

_-Masa_

Jun frowned. He knew of his younger sister's disappearance but he also knew her well enough to know that any trouble she found, she'd be able to handle. However... if some one was looking for both her name and mom's maiden name that meant that they were dealing with some kind of professional. Only the big leagues remembered their mother's name and reputation. If they were looking for Fujiwara, they'd find Kiyomi Hisagi and her unprepared daughter. Jun couldn't let that happen.

Or...

Mana could be overreacting again. Anything and everything that related to Hiro had Mana gushing like school girls over their school idols. Jun would know, he _was _a school idol. That seemed more likely but then Jun hadn't survived this long by assuming the best scenario. Jun reread the message and smiled, sharp like a newly honed blade.

* * *

"NO! You'll never take me alive! NEVER! Die you foul minion of the dark!" Mahiro kicked at Yamazaki.

"How long has she been like that?" An employee going by the name of Shuhei, asked.

"Approximately two hours," Tomiko replied with a worried frown. "The effects should've worn off by now."

Another employee, this, a dark haired and pale skinned wraith of a girl smiled creepily. "Aa, her guardian spirit tells me that she needs chocolate to truly come back to the world of the living. Preferably the expensive kind."

"A-Anko. Stop divining the spirits. We've got a real problem here," Tomiko chided. She glanced over at where Mahiro was now trying to chomp on Yamazaki's right hand, his other on her forehead trying to shove her away. "When will Papa be back?"

"Let go you she-bitch!" Yamazaki screamed, trying to pry open her jaws.

"He said he'll be back by the time school for Hero-kun ends," Shuhei offered lazily, his attention entirely focused on Mahiro's unopened bento.

Tomiko rubbed her temples, feeling a migraine coming on. Why was she the only, _only _sane and responsible person at Papa's Tasty Fritters? She'd told Yamazaki and the others that it was a bad idea to shoot her with a tranquilizer to keep her from attacking the rude customers. But did anybody listen to Tomiko? _Nooo~._ And to make matters worse, they had to give Hero five of Papa's best fritters blended in with Shuhei's hidden bottle of malt liquor and Yamazaki's stash of anpan. It was a smoothie of absolute horrors. All that sugar. Tomiko shivered. And alcohol.

The shop was currently closed due to the large hole in the front of the store where Mahiro had escaped through several times after they had retrieved her from school. Tomiko was still amazed at how long it took for the employees to subdue one girl. They _really _shouldn't have made Mahiro help open up this morning, especially way before the time that she usually woke up for school.

Tomiko realized that the screams had stopped and everything had come to a quiet standstill in the employee's backroom. Tomiko really didn't want to turn around and see what exactly was going on. But she did anyways. Curiosity killed the cat.

"Oh god..." Tomiko screamed at the horrible sight.

Mahiro's face was completely covered in chocolate and she was squeezing bottle after bottle of chocolate syrup into her mouth. Several other bottles of chocolate syrup laid beside her. Sad little husks. Victims of Mahiro's insane lust.

Yamazaki shuddered weakly against the wall that was the only thing holding him up in his horror. Shuhei was off in his own little world, happily eating Mahiro's lunch box and helping himself to Tomiko's. He stayed away from Anko's and Yamazaki as Anko had a tendency to put curses on her lunches and all Yamazaki ate was anpan and curry bread. In the corner, Anko kufufu-ed. "I told you that all she needed to rejoin the living was chocolate."

Tomiko's cheeks bulged. She doubled over and puked. "It's horrible," she sobbed. "Papa's going to be furious with what Hero's-hrgkkhgahhka- done with all the chocolate-ghgghkjhjhggahgsgh- syrup."

"I think he's going to be more furious about you puking on his leather couches," Shuhei pointed out helpfully. Not.

"Hey, how'd I get back here again?" asked Mahiro who was now entirely sane. "And why am I covered in chocolate, not that I'm complaining." She saw the wild looks that Tomiko and Yamazaki shot her. The other two employees couldn't care less. "All I remember is coming to work to open up the shop, getting shot when trying to strangle this fat ass bastard and then waking up to something extremely sweet..."

Tomiko turned on Yamazaki. "Never again!" she hissed. "I don't care if she _kills_ the customers! We're never gonna' tranq Hero again! And never are you guys going to make that drink for her either! How the hell did you get your hands on malt liquor anyways, Shuhei? You're underage!"

"From the street corner. I know a guy," Shuhei shrugged.

"I'm surrounded by insane people," Tomiko moaned.

"Hey, I resemble that remark," Mahiro yawned. "Damn I need more chocolate."

The room fell silent. Very carefully Yamazaki said, "You just drank sixteen bottles of chocolate syrup."

"Well yeah, but that was mostly corn syrup. Mostly," replied Mahiro with a grin. "I need some cocoa beans." She made a sucking sound with her bottom lip. "_Cocoa beans_," she emphasized with a hiss.

Anko started laughing for no apparent reason. Shuhei lost interest and started playing with the empty bento boxes.

The look of horror on Tomiko's and Yamazaki's face were apparent. Tomiko took a step back and slammed into Papa's chest. It felt like a brick wall. She couldn't help it after all she'd been through today. She screamed.

"Cocoa beans," Mahiro hissed and started rocking back and forth.

A heavy bag slammed into her face, spilling out handfuls of unroasted cocoa beans(Papa does the roasting himself because he thinks that the love he puts into roasting them makes his chocolate fritters taste better).

Mahiro gave a hungry cry and started stuffing her cheeks.

Papa picked Mahiro up by the scruff of her neck as iff she were a kitten and he was the mama cat. "Ma-chan, you can't have any chocolate until after you finish your shift."

Mahiro hissed and swiped at his face angrily. "My _PRECIOUS_!"

"Yes, I think you're precious too, Ma-chan, but you really need to get started on your shift. Don't forget your cap." He tried to place the piss colored cap atop Mahiro's head.

"I _NEED_ cocoa beans!" Mahiro yowled, smacking the cap away. She was just sane minutes ago but with the excessive amounts of chocolate, I mean chocolate flavored corn syrup, what little shred of sanity she'd managed to find disappeared like so much smoke. She was a creature possessed by the spirit of chocolate.

Papa noticed and finally called for Anko. "An-chan! Can you be a dear and exorcise this spirit for me?"

Anko kufufu-ed. "Indeed I can, Papa. But it shall only return for they are one spirit. They are bound together in life and even in death they shall. It is only hitsuzen."

"That's nice An-chan. Now be a dear and exorcise this demon for me."

Mahiro screamed as Anko approached. "We are legion! We are many! We do not forget! We do not forgive! We are Anonymous! Don't put that stupid shitty hat on _ME_!"

Anko placed the cap upon Mahiro's head and her other hand on Mahiro's forehead, thumb pressing down on the center. "You shall be equalized."

There was a sound, like air escaping from a balloon or a silent deadly fart. Mahiro's eyes rolled back and foam started to bubble from her mouth. It was chocolate. It was the spirit being forced out. Or so Anko told onlookers. Mahiro hunched over and puked over Papa's polished shoes.

In all actuality, what actually happened was that Anko had a stun pad on her thumb. She'd just tased Mahiro. And it worked, if you believed in chocolate spirits and all that mumbo jumbo kind of shit. But not all the credit went to Anko and her 'Exorcism.' No, part of it was the cap. The stupid smelly, ugly, pissy cap that Mahiro had to wear. The god awful creation that she had seen Tomiko wear some four days ago. 'It's not required' she had said. 'It'll be fine' she had said. 'You'll get used to it' she had said. **No**. She _lies_.

Mahiro came back with a groan of disgust and she felt that god awful weight resting on her head again. "I can't work here. If you make me keep this shitty cap on, I swear on your fritters, I'm gonna' kill somebody," she growled.

"Don't be silly, Ma-chan." Papa crooned happily. "That's the proud symbol of this venerable shop of delights!"

Mahiro let out a shriek. It was the sound of pure torment.

* * *

Meanwhile, Tsuna was lying in a small puddle of his own blood and wondering just what a Tasty Fritter was...and then he saw the piss colored wrapper flapping in front of his face while the rest of his classmates walked past him. Tsuna reached out, and grabbed it. Oops.

The slippery wax paper did what it did best, and slipped away. Tsuna watched it flutter away like the last of his masculinity-and then a polished black shoe slammed down on it.

"Dame-Tsuna," Reborn greeted casually. "How long are you going to lay there like a dog?"

Tsuna spat out a wad of blood. "I dunno," he rasped. "Until I feel a little bit more human I guess?"

"Do you want to know where Mahiro works?" Reborn said, completely ignoring Tsuna's comeback.

"Eh? You know where she works?"

"Yes," answered Reborn with a glint in his eyes. "But you'll find out on your own by tailing her."

"W-What? Why can't you just tell me where she works?" Tsuna exclaimed.

"A mafia boss must learn the basics of tailing a target, dame-Tsuna, and what better way than to practice on Mahiro?"

Tsuna's mouth opened and closed at Reborn's sheer arrogance. "Maybe because if she catches me following her, she'll _kill _me?" Tsuna sputtered. "She hates sneaks and nosy bastards!"

Reborn smiled enigmatically. "Then you ought not to get caught, ne, _Tsu_-na."

Gokudera flew through the door, spitting out blood and dripping sweat. "What's this I hear about tailing someone Juudaime?" His eyes were filled with excitement.

Yamamoto sauntered in, looking as cool and chill as always. Although he looked a little bit worse for wear with his bruises..."Hey, sounds fun." He chuckled.

Tsuna felt himself slump as if trying to seep into the ground where he wouldn't find himself in bat-shit crazy situations like this. "You all-" _Have a death wish_, he wanted to say, but when he saw the shining expectant looks on their faces, he just didn't have the heart. Hell, they'd probably enjoy the beatings. Tsuna was pretty sure that they must've became a tad bit masochistic from Reborn's training and Hibari's beatings. "...Are welcome to come if you want to," he finished weakly.

* * *

The yakuza member doubled over in pain, coughing up blood and spittle. A hand reached into the yakuza member's hair and yanked him roughly towards the attacker's face.

"I can't believe you guys lost to a bunch of kids. _Kids_. You call yourself yakuza?" the man sneered, his dark eyes narrowing to slits.

"Y-You can't do this! I-I-m the boss of this gang!" blubbered the man on his knees.

"'You can't do this,'" he mocked. His hand lashed out and hit him so hard a yellowed tooth flew out and bounced off the pavement. The former boss moaned, slobber, sweat, and blood dripping down his front in a humiliating display. He even yelped like a kicked dog when he was siezed by the throat and slammed into the brick wall. "Oi, let me tell you an integral rule of the world, Mishima Jiro. The strong-"

Mishima's hand was forced wide, and the individual fingers splayed against the bricks. A knife flashed in the dim light from the street lamps, and an agonized scream shattered the quiet of Namimori. Takatori stepped back, sneering down at the pathetic piece of shit groveling in the dirt for his detatched pinky. "The strong, can do what the fuck ever they want." And he said this almost gently, before nodding to the opening of the alley. "Now get the fuck out of my town before I slice off something you'll really miss."

"Y-Y-You!"

"There's a new boss of the Momokyokai, and that's me, Anotsu Takatori, so get your ass out of my sight. You make me sick." Takatori hawked and spat.

* * *

**A/N: And there goes chapter 5! Click the pretty box down below and tell me what you think about the chapter. I feel as if I've created too many OCs in this story. O.o I just want to show that Mahiro doesn't always hang around Tsuna and the gang since she has a _life_, you know? Oh well. Anyways, lots of allusions in this chapter.**

**Somehow, the chapter started out as kind of serious to crack-y(?). The part about the rabid cat was supposed to angsty but it turned out funny instead. Hmm, I'll need to work on my angst.**


	6. Hello, Betty

**Disclaimer: KHR belongs to Amano Akira. Mahiro, the Hisagi family, Papa's Tasty Fritters, and Anotsu Takatori belong to sky of c-o-l-o-r-s  
**

**Warning: Contains violence (as the title says), snot, fritters (again), blood, grenades, tonfas, snarky voices in your head, and vulgarity.**

**Previously on Yu-Gi-Oh... Just kidding.  
**

**Last Chapter:** Tsuna reminisces, Mahiro goes crazy, hello Hisagi Bros, Tsuna and co. decide to tail Mahiro to her workplace, new boss of the Momokyokai.

**A/N: I'm so sorry but I had to fix the part where Mahiro gets mad at Tsuna. Kansai Voice needed more screen time so... you know... Sure it's mostly still the same but there's some changes. :-[**

* * *

**Chapter 6:**

**Tailing Mahiro Day One: Begin  
**

Mahiro had a hang over. Her heavy head rested on her desk, her twin braids dangling over the edge of her desk, her messy and uneven bangs covering her face.

"Urm.. M-Mahiro? Do you want to maybe... come over later?" Tsuna asked.

"Can't. Work," she replied, mumbling. School had just ended and Mahiro still had an hour before she was expected to be at her work place. She intended to grab as much sleep and rest as she could in that time.

"A-ah. I see..." Tsuna let the sentence trail off before glancing back at his two friends. Gokudera gave him a thumbs up and an encouraging smile. Yamamoto waved back. "Ah... so don't you have to get to work?" Tsuna squeaked when Mahiro spun at him with a vicious snarl on her face.

"How'd you know? Who told you?"

"Um... Mahiro I was there in the classroom with you yesterday. Remember?" Tsuna said weakly. "And you just said that you had work..."

"I remember nothing from yesterday," Mahiro mused gloomily. "It's all just a sugar crazed blur." She flopped back down onto her desk. "Now leave me alone. I need to get some sleep in before I go to work."

Tsuna nodded understandingly before walking back to Yamamoto and Gokudera almost mechanically. "You heard her... she doesn't go to work until later..."

"How much later? Did you ask, Tsuna?" Reborn sat atop Yamamoto's shoulder, his hand holding onto a cup of freshly brewed coffee.

Tsuna blanched, whipping back to check his sleeping friend before turning to face an amused Reborn.

"Dame-Tsuna, if we don't know when she goes to work, how are we supposed to know when to tail her?"

"Um.. er..." Tsuna stuttered. _But I don't __**want **__to trail her!_ His inner voice screeched.

"Oh well, we might as well get some training in before Mahiro wakes up." Reborn grinned. Leon transformed into a gun.

"B-But Reborn! What if Mahiro wakes up while we're t-training?"

"You just have to reach today's quota is all."

Tsuna backed away slowly, not at all liking where this was going. "W-Which is...?"

The grin widened. "We'll be helping Yamamoto train."

"E-EHHH!? But in baseball, Yamamoto's got nothing to learn from you!" shouted Tsuna.

Leon glowed ominously in Reborn's tiny hand, casting an eerie shadow over the infant's face. Reborn spun Leon around his finger and gave Tsuna a toothy grin. "Who says we're playing baseball?"

"Hahaha. Thanks Tsuna, for helping me out. You too, kid," chuckled Yamamoto, already gathering up his equipment.

"B-B-But I thought we were going to tail Mahiro today?" stuttered Tsuna. "We're just gonna' go off and do something else?"

"Don't be ridiculous Tsuna, mafia bosses seldom focus on just one of their subordinates," Reborn replied sagely.

"Ah, erm.." Tsuna spluttered trying to come up with a retort before Yamamoto's arm wrapped around Tsuna's shoulder, guiding him out of the classroom.

"Hahaha. Let's get started, Tsuna."

* * *

Hibari Kyoya was the famed prefect of Namimori. He had a tendency to call the students and populace of Namimori herbivores because that was what they were in his eyes. Herbivores. There had been those who had tried to fight him and leave behind their herbivorous status for one of a carnivore, but in the end they were still herbivores. They would crowd and surround him only to fail.

There was no one in Namimori that could match up to Hibari's prowess. Or so he had thought. That was before the enigmatic baby Reborn had shown up in Namimori and had blocked his tonfa with only a jitte. Although Hibari hadn't fought him, yet, he knew that baby was no herbivore. He was strong and Hibari counted the days until he would finally get to fight him.

And then there was the transfer student. Not once, not twice, not even thrice had Hibari managed to bite her to death. Hisagi Mahiro. She was a strange herbivore. No, from the brief scuffles he'd had with her, she was no herbivore. She ran, crowded, and acted overall like an herbivore but her eyes. They shone with a predatory light that could only belong to a carnivore. Hibari wanted to fight her again. And again and again until he'd finally beaten her. His pride would not allow him to rest until he had beaten her.

He smirked. His prey had always been weak herbivores but this time, his prey would be a wolf hiding in a sheep's cloak. And this time, he would properly bite her to death.

* * *

Mahiro sneezed so loudly it woke her up. Groggily, she flipped open her cell phone. Her eyes flew wide open at the time. Mahiro wasted no time. She shoved her things into her bag and jumped out the window. It was quicker this way. Her body still felt heavy and her mind was still a bit cloudy, but the thought of Papa's snotty tears motivated her like nothing else. She could not be late. Only hell awaited her if she was late.

Running past the school's field, Mahiro could make out Tsuna, Gokudera, and Yamamoto along with Reborn, throwing around dynamite, bombs and bullets. And was that a _tank_? Mahiro shook her head. Probably training from Reborn. Come to think of it, Mahiro still had to start Tsuna up on his training. White day was only a few more days away but... who cares? Once the week's over, Mahiro would test Tsuna out. See how strong he's become with Reborn training him. He couldn't possibly be as bad as he was back when they were six... could he?

She shrugged the thought off. She had less than three minutes left to get to work.

* * *

Back at school, Tsuna was dodging bullets and explosions with Yamamoto. Tsuna could barely make out Yamamoto's figure, the smoke was everywhere.

"Over here, Tsuna," he heard Yamamoto call.

"Die, Yamamoto," Reborn said, aiming Leon at a surprised Yamamoto.

"What!? Reborn!?" Tsuna exclaimed. _It can't be that he's planning to shoot Yamamoto with the Dying Will Bullet? _"Wait!" His feet slipped and slid through gravel and grit. Yamamoto was right there, right_ there, _why couldn't Tsuna reach him?

Yamamoto seemed to waver indecisively, and then with a determined glint in his tanned face, he lifted his bat as if to bunt a regular fastball. Tsuna cried out, feeling nothing but horror when the bullet punched through the polished hardwood and-...

What the? Yamamoto stared down at the glowing blade in his hand with surprise. "Hrm?" Yamamoto examined his new blade with an inquisitive smile.

"A sword?" Tsuna breathed, his side ached, and his hands and feet felt jittery from the sudden surge of adrenaline. _Whoo~ _Tsuna bent over and panted with relief. Thank god Reborn hadn't shot a real bullet!

Reborn smiled, and nodded with approval. "Hmm, that was pretty good." Tsuna was utterly lost and Reborn must of had sensed that because he began to explain. "The bat is a normal bat, and usually can double as a telescope as well, but once it's head speed goes over three hundred kilometers per hour, it transforms-"

"It transforms into a sword!?" Tsuna interrupted his eyes wide with shock. "But that's impossible! Yamamoto's bat just became a _sword,_ how does _that_ make sense!?"

Reborn frowned at the worrying signs of his ward starting to grow a functioning set of reasoning skills. But he dismissed it as just part of his high-strung ward's personality. "In any case Tsuna, I will christen it Yamamoto's bat."

Tsuna twitched, and one of his inner voices scoffed and verbally sneered. _What a name. Reborn's showing his imaginative side again I see._

_Shut. Up._ Tsuna found himself telling himself. _Reborn's been helping me and my friends a lot!_

_Is that so? I think he's just having fun torturing your inept ass._ The Kansai accent was back!

"Listen you..." Tsuna's muttered angrily. But his monologue with himself was interrupted by Yamamoto's husky delighted laughter. Tsuna looked up, his brown eyes still flickering dangerously from his inner struggles.

"Hahaha! How strange!" Yamamoto chuckled, swinging his new sword through the air and admiring how it kept changing back and forth from bat to sword. "This is hilarious!"

Tsuna sweat dropped. _He's retardedly amused!_ Tsuna thought to himself.

_Yeah, and that's not un-pc at all a remark to make Tsuna… _That Kansai accent drawled.

Tsuna slapped his face. _Shutupshutupshutup!_

"Being able to follow short ranged bullet attacks is the owners own ability though." Reborn observed.

"If I keep swinging this heavy thing, my batting might just improve..." Yamamoto mused happily, still swinging the wickedly sharp katana through the air.

Reborn brought up Leon. "Again." He ordered, and pulled the trigger.

Yamamoto was grinning as he batted the bullet aside like a paper airplane. "Yamamoto's amazing!" Tsuna sucked in a shocked breath, his weirdly accented inner voice forgotten.

Far off in a grassy corner, Gokudera keh'd bitterly to his self.

A sharp niggling thought occurred to Tsuna and he jumped up like somebody had pinched him. "Wait a minute, weren't we supposed to be trailing Mahiro!"

**Tailing Mahiro Day One: Complete Fail**

* * *

**Tailing Mahiro Day Two: Begin**

Tsuna was sitting in class, his morning had been spectacularly uneventful thus far and to tell the honest to god truth, _he loved it._ Mahiro seemed to be in a largely positive mood too, maybe she'd gotten used to her job? She sat at her desk, several seats behind him, and a small smirk on her face while she sucked on a chocolate lollipop. Tsuna felt his good mood start to deteriorate when he thought about what would happen if Hibari chose today to make a surprise visit to class 1-A.

Tsuna had a really bad feeling that Mahiro wouldn't let Hibari off with just a minor case of suffocation this time if he tried to implement his no-candy policy. Oh, yeah, it would be a battle of cataclysmic proportions.

_Wait, why am I worrying about Hibari?_ Tsuna thought, fingers freezing mid-tap.

_Oh I dunno~ _Tsuna's eyes closed in consternation.

_Not you again... _Tsuna groaned inwardly.

_Don't you interrupt me you little shit._ The Kansai-accented voice drawled cheerfully. _Like I was sayin', maybe you're worrying about Hibari because you know our Hiro-nii will turn that orally fixated bastard inside out if he even __**thinks **__about touching her chocolates, ne?_

_I never knew that I had such a dirty mouthed delinquent hidden away inside my psyche. _Tsuna resumed drumming the desk with his fingers.

"Because of this..." Saotome-sensei drawled. The door slid open with a loud clatter, and Tsuna looked up to see Kyoko's older brother standing in the doorway with a serious expression on his face. Mahiro sucked noisily on her lollipop with obvious enjoyment.

"Is Sawada here?" Ryohei asked loudly.

Tsuna felt the peace and tranquility he'd been reveling in, melt away like a maiden's heartbroken tears.

"Eh? Doesn't he seem a little different from the way he is usually?" said a random classmate. Tsuna cursed the lucky bastard who got to sit next to his beloved Kyoko.

_He's really quiet today,_ Tsuna observed. Kyoko frowned, and Tsuna felt his cheeks grow warm at the way how soft and pink her lips looked today.

_That's about the only __**soft **__part of her body, I mean, seriously, doesn't the girl __**eat**__?_ The Kansai accent groused.

_That was true_… Tsuna worried sometimes at just how slender Kyoko-chan was compared to other girls. Maybe he ought to ask Mahiro to talk to Kyoko about it. She'd be her usual rude self, but then, Kyoko seemed to like Mahiro enough not to take it the wrong way… Like she'd be sure to if Tsuna tried to tell her so himself.

_Huh, so we agree on some things after all. And you're actually __**thinking,**__ hell, soon you won't need me at all!_

_Oh, is __**that **__what you're here for?_ Tsuna scowled at his desk.

_Ohh, and is that actually__** personality**__ I hear!? Bravissimo pussy-me! _The Kansai-voice somehow managed to clap. Inside Tsuna's _head!_ Alright then, forget what he was saying about his day being peaceful, when the craziness is inside your own head...

"Is there something wrong Nii-chan?" Kyoko said in her high sweet tone. Tsuna sighed happily; maybe his day could be saved after all...

Saotome-sensei scowled. "A-aren't you Sasagawa from the boxing club? Do you need something in the middle of class?"

Ryohei nodded solemnly. "Yes, indeed the story started the day before yesterday, wait, the day before...-" Tsuna watched with fascination as Ryohei struggled with his words, a part of him feeling sympathy, the rest of him giggling with glee- oh wait, that was the Kansai accented voice.

"The day before yesterday?" Ryohei grew increasingly frustrated, eventually snapping like his ape cousins- wait, that was the Kansai accent again!_ Knock it off! This is Kyoko-chan's brother!_ Tsuna thought angrily.

_Like I give a rat's ass._ The Kansai accented voice sneered.

"Eeeiiii! This is too troublesome! Just get me Sawada!" Ryohei snapped.

_Oh, he's back to normal now._ Tsuna thought along with the rest of his classmates. Tsuna stood up, and made his way cautiously to the front where Ryohei stood, fuming.

"Uh, what is it?" Tsuna asked slowly, in case the big orangutan couldn't process straight Japanese in his current moo- _Stop. It. Stop saying such horrible things about Kyoko's big brother!_

_It's not mean if it's true, ne?_

_I'm going insane! There's a Kansai delinquent in my head that won't shut up!_ Tsuna thought frantically, barely paying attention to what Ryohei was saying.

"Oh, Sawada!" Ryohei called out cheerfully although Tsuna was standing less than five feet away from him. "To tell you the truth I wanted to ask you a favor!"

_You want a banana_? Tsuna heard himself thinking, and then realized with horror that it _was_ himself. _Oh my god! The Kansai snarky-ness was contagious!_

"What?" Tsuna said dumbly, still reeling from that utterly rude comment! It wasn't as if Ryohei even looked particularly much like an orangutan! It was just the rather long, hairy arms that looked like they'd be at home swinging in a vine! And oh god, Tsuna couldn't STOP!

"Oi, Tsuna." Mahiro called from her seat, her lollipop clacked loudly against her teeth. "You feeling okay? You're looking constipated you know." She winked.

Tsuna wilted underneath that knowing gaze. Ryohei beamed at Mahiro. "Hey, it's you! That extreme girl who had that extreme battle with Hibari! Hey, would you like to help me out too?"

Mahiro made a face, and grinned sheepishly. "Naah, can't. I've got work." Mahiro nodded to Tsuna, "Why don't you tell Tsuna what the favor is before leaving eh?"

"Eeeeii! It's too much trouble! I'll explain later! Come on Tsuna!" Ryohei dragged Tsuna away, cutting off his plaintive wail.

"_Then why did you come here in the first place!?"_

**Tailing Mahiro Day Two: Complete Fail**

* * *

Kiyomi sat in her comfy office chair reading the latest email from her eldest son. Her painted lips quirked up in a wry grin. She was a rather pretty Japanese woman in her early forties. Kiyomi gave credit to her parent's impressive genes, and hoped that one day her children will spare a thought for her and their father when they hit _their_ forties.

But in light of this latest bit of news though, Kiyomi Hisagi began to get a suspiciously deep line between her eyebrows. _Really now,_ Kiyomi thought to herself with an exasperated chuckle, did Manabu think she was _stupid_?

Kiyomi felt embarrassed on Manabu's behalf, she'd _introduced_ him to the information business for heaven's sake, what made him think that she wouldn't have her own sources to help her keep track of her babies?

Pull back readers, and look at this middle aged, pretty-faced attractive woman. See her face, her black hair cut fashionably short, her immaculate make up, her thousand dollar suit tailored to convince customers of her professionalism and competence. See the pictures in their frames—and now see the wry grin of a mother not so much disappear as _expand_ into the grinning snarl of a mama bear protecting her cubs.

Now, snap back in and hear her…

"They _dare_?" Kiyomi said softly into the empty office. "After all I've killed just to make my point that _you don't fuck with my family_?"

Kiyomi hoped that one day her children _will_ reach her age. But hopes and wishes were for those unwilling to kill to get what they want.

Hear her…

Kiyomi had never had a problem killing...

_Hear her…_

And her children, ALL of them, will live to see at least their hundredth birthday if Kiyomi had to paint the whole world in crimson. There was no way that Kiyomi would let her youngest daughter be dragged into the world that she had worked so hard to get out of. Street fights and small scuffles were fine but an organized crime group? Yakuza? Mafia? No one messes with one of the top hitwomen in Europe's babies, even if she is retired.

_Do you hear that Reborn? _

* * *

**Tailing Mahiro Day Three: Begin**

Reborn had a bad feeling about today. It wasn't often that his intuition warned him about any kind of situation in this peaceful town- there were so few real threats here. But the uneasy hitman took off his hat and looked up at the sky as if he'd see dark clouds gathering over the horizon.

"Ow, Reborn. I think that we should cancel our plans to tail Mahiro today okay? I mean, I'm real tired after helping Ryohei sort out that business with the clubs…" Tsuna trailed off hopefully.

Reborn's uneasy feeling didn't fade even when he looked at his perpetually inept ward. He could see talent in Tsuna, he knew it was there, but Reborn could only ever bring it out with the Dying Will Bullet. And in the end, that was not the kind of strength needed to rule the criminal underworld. There was only so much a group of capable underlings can make up for in terms of their leader's incompetence. "Don't be silly Tsuna," Reborn said, his voice only a little impatient. "We will proceed with our schedule-"

Tsuna looked at him. And there! For a split second, something other than fear and something very essential-Tsuna was _thinking._ That expression on his face had been appearing more recently since Mahiro Hisagi had reappeared and however unconsciously, awakening the true self of Tsuna.

"We _will be_ tailing Mahiro, Tsuna." Reborn emphasized, watching Tsuna's eyes flicker with a sharp emotion rather foreign to Reborn since he'd taken Tsuna underneath his wing. The uneasy feeling grew stronger as Tsuna nodded stiffly, instead of blubbering like the useless fool Reborn had become resigned to teaching.

Even Gokudera, the rash young boy absolutely taken with Tsuna's usual reclining nature seemed to notice the change. "Oi, Juudaime," he said with a concerned look on his ruddy face. "If you really don't want to go, me and Yamamoto here can just take over for today."

Tsuna looked up sharply, and then the usual tremulous smile spread over his face. "Uh, no, that's okay. Besides I need to be there in case Mahiro snaps." Tsuna trailed off, and a pause of silence followed as if he was arguing with himself. Tsuna's eyes darkened at his own thoughts, and he continued through gritted teeth;

"Trust me, you don't wanna' be there when she snaps. You could carry an entire ton of TNT, and an entire arsenal of swords that can double as telescopes, and Mahiro will still smear you all over the sidewalk."

Even Reborn was shocked into silence. Yamamoto for once was not ahaha-ing like a fool and treating this as a game, and Gokudera looked disturbed. Tsuna had never once sounded so… grim, not even when Reborn had thrown him into situation after situation guaranteed to fluster the most hardened mobster. But the strangest part about what Tsuna had said was noted by Yamamoto.

"Ne, Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked quizzically, his face still and somber. "Why are you speaking in a Kansai accent?"

Tsuna blinked his face flushing. "EEEEEIIIII!? I was speaking in a Kansai accent! No way!" Tsuna shrieked. "No waay! How embarrassing!"

And the spell was broken, whatever that bit of strangeness was, it was gone. Yamamoto laughed, his hand slapping Tsuna's shoulder, sending him stumbling forward while Gokudera caught the weak limb-ed boy and berated Yamamoto for his callousness in treating the Juudaime. Tsuna continued to flush with embarrassment, letting Yamamoto ruffle his gravity defying hair while Gokudera yammered something about too much crime movies Tsuna was watching to study how to become a good Juudaime.

Reborn watched it all. And felt the uneasy feeling growing stronger.

**Tailing Mahiro Day Three: ?**

* * *

Mahiro growled, and swatted at the piece of plastic fritter that kept slipping from the stiff brim of the CAP over her eyes like a deflated balloon. "Can I help you?" Mahiro managed a convincing smile for the group of grade school children gawking at her head.

"Nee-chan," whispered a cute girl with a bowl shaped haircut. "Nee-chan, that hat…"

"Are they punishing you nee-chan?" demanded a scowling boy with a Band-Aid over his scraped button nose. "You must have done somethin' real bad huh nee-chan?"

"It ain't right." A short, stubby boy said with a sniff. "I don't care what you did, that hat is just _too much_ nee-chan!"

Aww, Mahiro had always liked kids, especially kids like these who showed signs of rationality. "I know. It is pretty ugly isn't it?" Mahiro shrugged, as if to say what are you gonna do?

The trio all nodded in unison. Mahiro smiled. It was her real smile she saved for her mom and dad. _Snap._ Mahiro's smile froze, transforming into a black scowl.

"Ah! No Ma-chan! Why'd you stop smiling?" Papa protested. He lowered the camera and pouted. His black mustache drooped down at the corners dramatically, as he wheedled, "Come on Ma-chan! I need to take a good one for your employee ID!"

Mahiro toyed briefly with the desire to rip off the cash register and fling it at his ridiculously shiny head- but no, she can't because then Mahiro would have to find another place that hired fourteen year olds.

"I'm _working_." Mahiro gritted from betwixt her teeth.

A bright flash blinded her for a second, "Smile Ma-chan!" Papa sang out cheerfully. Mahiro turned back to the grade schoolers.

"Listen, order something, and get out before he starts wanting _you_ in the picture too."

The girl with the bowl shaped hair cut stared at Papa's mustache. Then she turned back at Mahiro with a vaguely disgusted look on her face, "Umm, does that man cook the fritters?" she whispered.

Mahiro leaned in closer; conspiringly she whispered also, "How do you think his mustache got so shiny?"

* * *

**Tailing Mahiro Day Four: Begin**

_Stay out of my head!_ Tsuna thought furiously, dodging the disturbingly intense stares from Reborn. They were walking down the street they'd tailed Mahiro to the other day before a random bird had relieved itself on his shoulder and Gokudera, _Gokudera _had decided that the bird deserved to get blown up for shitting upon his Juudaime.

Tsuna noticed Gokudera scanning the skies for any more wise guy pigeons.

_Not that I've got anything against it, but you need to deal with that guy's obsession with you._ Said the Kansai accent almost absently as the quad rounded a corner.

_If you don't have a problem with it, then why are you bringing it up? And STAY OUT OF MY HEAD!_ Tsuna slapped the back of his head irritably, ignoring the worried look that Gokudera shot him.

"Damned mosquitoes!" Gokudera griped. He reached into his breast pockets and pulled out the familiar sticks of dynamite. Tsuna's eyes widened, now _that_ he couldn't ignore!

_Shee-iit! Now who needs enemies with friends like this! I've got the feeling that we're getting' closer to Mahiro's work place, and all we need now is that pet terrorist of yours to start exploding shit up! _The Kansai voice whistled sharply, continuing gruffly (Tsuna hadn't even known his voice could actually get that low and scary!)_ And just so's you know, I'm a part of you-I couldn't stay out of your head even if you __**cut **__me out._

Tsuna grabbed onto Gokudera, preventing the silver haired terrorist from lighting his dynamite sticks. "Gokudera," Tsuna whispered, he didn't know why exactly he was whispering, probably to keep from shouting that throwing dynamite at mosquitoes was not just the opposite of low profile but also incredibly stupid, but he did it anyways, his brown eyes staring deep into the half Italian's face. "Calm down. If you keep throwing dynamite around, Mahiro will catch us for sure."

"R-Right, Juudaime. It's expected that Juudaime would know the basics of how to tail people!" Gokudera said proudly. Tsuna pulled back, face palming. Yamamoto just ahaha-ed.

Tsuna glanced around. He couldn't remember exactly which way Mahiro had gone.

"Gyahahahhaha. It's the amazing Lambo! Dame-Tsuna, buy me candy!"

_Aw shit, now look at that. Another nuisance._ The Kansai accent said.

Low and behold, the annoying Bovino was there along with I-pin. Tsuna had no idea why two five year olds were off in the streets alone without an adult. They probably got separated from Nana while she went grocery shopping. "Not now, Lambo. I've got to... find Mahiro," Tsuna explained to the brat.

"Bring me to Hiro-nee!" Lambo ordered, promptly attaching himself to Tsuna's leg. I-pin nodded in agreement with Lambo.

The two kids had become attached to Mahiro within the very short amount of time that Mahiro had spent babysitting them. Tsuna had no idea why. Mahiro had just about thrown Lambo out of the second floor window at Tsuna's house. Strangely, Lambo thought it was... fun. With I-pin, Tsuna could sort of understand why. Mahiro and I-pin practiced martial arts together, although with Mahiro it was all mostly freestyle and streetfighting. Recently, Mahiro had taught I-pin how to execute the choke and knock out move that she had used on Hibari. She said that it was something that all girls needed to know how to do.

"Shut up, stupid cow! Can't you see that Juudaime is busy!?" shouted Gokudera as he tried to pry Lambo off Tsuna's leg. He failed miserably as Lambo began throwing grenades.

_Great job buddy. You get one terrorist to stop just so another one can start. You really are no good. Hurry up and put a stop to it. _The Kansai voice added, snarkily. _If you can, that is._

"H-Hey, you guys!" Tsuna tried.

Gokudera threw his dynamites in retaliation, causing even bigger explosions.

"You guys.."

There were no more mosquitoes in sight now but rock and debris littered the ground. Tsuna could hear the Kansai accent chuckling inside his head at how pussy he was. Tsuna glanced at Reborn who was asleep on Yamamoto's shoulder. Tsuna could tell with the snot bubble coming from the hitman's nonexistant nose.

"Hahaha. Man, what pretty firecrackers," Yamamoto laughed.

"They're not fireworks, baseball idiot!"

Tsuna gaped. "That's...!"

The Kansai voice whistled. _How the hell did that kid get his hands on an Bouncing Betty*? Oh wait, he's from the Bovino family. Fucking arm dealers._

Tsuna paled. He'd seen documentaries about WWII and from what he'd remembered about these bombs... these bombs... _They castrate your balls._

_Ye gads!_ The Kansai voice squeaked. They were very dangerous to a boy who was already lacking in masculinity.

"LAMBO STOP!" Tsuna cried, before tackling down the baby dressed in cow print. They went down hard and Lambo smacked his head against the pavement loudly. The Bouncing Betty flew high into the air and Tsuna watched with wide horrified eyes while it descended. _Goodbye balls_, Tsuna thought dreamily to himself.

_I take it back. You really can cut me out. I'm the only masculine part of you. If your balls are gone, I'll be gone too._ Kansai Voice sounded as if it was sobbing.

Luckily, Reborn found his masculinity was imperiled and exploded into action. With tiny swift hands, he managed to catch the Bouncing Betty without detonating it.

_SAFE!_ Kansai Voice cheered.

"Great catch, kid!" Yamamoto ahaha-ed.

Tsuna patted himself to make sure he hadn't had an accident. Nope, nice and dry. Underneath him, Lambo began to sob.

"T-T-To-le-rate," Lambo sniffled before Tsuna jumped back and Lambo shot himself with the Ten Year Bazooka. I-pin who had been watching safely from atop the tree began to blush.

A cloud of smoke appeared and from its cloudy depths emerged Ten Years Later Lambo. "Oh, it's the young Vongola tenth," he greeted lazily.

_More like lazy-eyed._ Snickered Kansai Voice.

Tsuna squeezed his own eyes shut in consternation. _Shut up. _Tsuna thought tiredly.

_I call it like I sees it._

_Aish._

TYL Lambo's eyes widened before he paled and backed away slowly, before turning tail and fleeing.

"Huh?" Tsuna said.

_What's up his ass?_ said Kansai Voice.

And then Tsuna noticed I-pin's face. Those blushing cheeks, those hearts in her chinky eyes. This could only mean one thing. Tsuna turned around mechanically toward the cold presence behind him. He cringed.

"For destruction of public property and noise pollution, you will be bitten to death."

_Aw for fuck's sake!_ _He just finished beating your ass up the other day!_

_Stop cussing so much! I don't talk like that! My mother always taught me to be polite! _Tsuna thought furiously.

_And that is why you're a pussy, mama's boy. Be glad I had the decency to memorize all the cuss words Mahiro used to say._

"Did you not hear me herbivore?"

Gokudera and Yamamoto shifted in front of Tsuna protectively. "Oi, you can't talk to Juudaime like that!" snapped Gokudera.

"Maa, maa. Why don't we all just calm down?" Yamamoto tried to mediate.

Hibari's eyes narrowed dangerously. He smiled chillingly. "And here I thought my day would be peaceful." He brandished his gleaming tonfas.

"HIIIIIEEE!"

Reborn watched disappointed while his charge flailed around like a headless chicken. "Dame Tsuna. Dame. You've failed to tail Mahiro again."

**Tailing Mahiro Day Four: Complete Fail**

* * *

Meanwhile...

Finally! _Finally!_ Mahiro's shift was over. She jumped for joy as she left the shop behind along with the crappy cap shoved into the darkest, dingiest, corner of her locker.

Out of nowhere a tall, dark, stranger loomed over her. "It's you!" he sobbed.

Mahiro took one large step back and got into fighting position. "Me who?" she asked, suspiciously. Before she could backhand the stranger from whence he came, the stranger had already fallen upon her. Mahiro cursed and slugged him hard in the solar plexus.

The force of her strike raised him onto his toes. Mahiro followed up with a right straight that snapped the stranger's head back on his spine.

"Ow!" he sobbed. "Heh heh. That's just like you Hiro-neechan. I really missed you...urk!" Mahiro raised her leg high in the air and slammed her heel down on his collar bone, driving him down to his knees.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked grimly.

Her hand tangled in his wild mop of hair and forced him to look up at her. Her other hand drew back, held ready to punch again if she didn't like what she heard. "Well?" she said coldly.

"I-I-It's me! Lambo!" He quickly added. "Ten Years Later Lambo!"

Mahiro's fist flew forward but then stopped an inch away from his face. She'd heard from Tsuna and his crew about the Ten Year Bazooka and Ten Years Later Lambo being chased around by Bianchi. But it couldn't hurt to be careful. "What did I call you the first time I saw you?"

"K-K-Kobe**!"

Mahiro relaxed and even smiled. "Alright. What did I do to you when you started throwing grenades around?"

He knew this one. "You flung me around and then threw me out the window. I landed in a bush. The other times, I landed in a tree and in a stranger's baby carriage."

"Oh, so it is you. Seems legit." Mahiro put down her fist and even let go of his hair. "What the hell do yout think you're doing jumping out of nowhere like that? I coulda _killed_ you." She said the last part very quietly and with a smile.

TYL Lambo laughed nervously. "S-sorry, Hiro-neechan. I was just so happy to see you again."

"You're lucky I didn't send you over the river Styxx." Large crocodile tears began rolling down his face. "What's wrong now?" Mahiro groaned, already fishing out a kleenex.

TYL Lambo began to sob loudly and embarassingly before jumping up to try to hug Mahiro again. Mahiro held back the urge to backhand him into silence and instead made him blow his nose on the kleenex. "I-I-It's just... I really missed you.."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Mahiro sighed. "What? Am I traveling or something in the future?"

Lambo paused. "Um, sort of..."

"Well, when you get back to the future, just give me a call. Unless you pissed me off then too. Then don't call me or else I'll come looking for you."

Lambo sniffed loudly. Impossibly large streams of green booger dripping off of his chin, he nodded.

"Gross. Wipe that shit." Mahiro dug out another piece of kleenex.

"I-It's really great to s-s-see y-y-you again."

Mahiro patted his shoulder affectionately. "Yeah. Me too. You almost done there? You're splattering my shirt with all the waterworks."

"Can I hug you?" he asked, moistly. Mahiro grimaced. Looked down at her clothes that still smelled like frying oil despite having been held safely back in her locker.

"Yeah... why not?" Mahiro wrapped her arms around him, cringing all the while.

"You smell like fritters... I kinda missed that smell..." Lambo wailed.

Mahiro felt something wet and sticky drip onto her neck. "Okay, that's enough." Don't ask Mahiro why but she had a bag of freshly made fritters on her. She shoved the bag into the older Lambo's hands. "Here. You want fritters? Take 'em!"

Lambo took the bag but then wouldn't let go of Mahiro. Mahiro had to punch him again to detach his sucker-like arms. She would have punched him again but a cloud of pink smoke appeared and the constricting force disappeared. Five year old Lambo fell onto the pavement laughing obnoxiously.

Mahiro felt a muscle in her eye twitch.

"Gyahahahhahahah! It's Hiro-nee! Let's play Angry Birds again!"

She felt it twitch again.

"Ne. Hiro-nee! Why do you have snot on your shoulder! Gyahahhaha! Gross!" Lambo pointed one stubby finger at the globs of conspicuously green boogers his TYL self had left on her shoulder.

Mahiro cracked her knuckles, menacingly. With a smile on her face, she asked in a calm and sugary sweet voice. "Ne, Lambo. Wanna' play a game?"

Lambo's eyes lit up with glee as he nodded enthusiastically. "Yay! Hiro-nee's playing with Lambo not the big forehead monster!"

Mahiro picked Lambo up by the collar, took a step back, and shot putted him over the building in the direction of Tsuna's house.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAA-!" Mahiro listened with a cocked ear. "-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY-OUCH!"

Satsified, Mahiro went on her merry way back to her apartment so that she could wash the smell of grease and the sticky globs of snot off of her.

* * *

Ten Years Later Lambo reappeared back in his respective time period, still sobbing as the Vongola guardians stared at him.

Gokudera looked disgusted. "Man, I forgot just how annoying you were as a five year old."

Tsuna sat at the head of the table, hands clasped in front of him. They had been in a meeting before five year old Lambo had shot himself with the bazooka and switched places with his future self. In ten years, Tsuna had changed a lot. He was calmer, more mature and also, colder. But still, he retained his kind nature so he inquired to why Lambo was currently trying to cover the oaken table with mucus.

"Lambo, what's wrong?"

Lambo made loud popping noises with his boogers, trying to suck them back up as Mahiro wasn't there to hand him more kleenexes. "I-I j-just saw H-Hiro-nee!" He broke out in a wail. The guardians were silent, especially Tsuna who rubbed his eyebrows with two white gloved fingers. A certain cloud guardian stared out the window at nothing in particular, an indescribable emotion on his face.

"Aa," replied Tsuna.

Lambo nodded jerkily before opening the bag that Mahiro had pushed onto him. He pulled out a golden crescent shaped fritter. "H-Hiro-nee!"

"What the hell is that?" Gokudera eyed it suspiciously, dynamite at the ready as Lambo proceeded to stuff his mouth with it.

"It's f-f-fritters that Hiro-nee gave me. It's as delicious as I remembered it to be."

Gokudera stowed the dynamite away, before reaching a hand out. "Don't hog it all, you stupid cow."

Hibari reached out a hand too, much to the surprise of the other guardians. "What?" he growled.

* * *

Tsuna didn't know how long he could keep this up. Tailing Mahiro was as hard as he had initially thought and the _danger _quotient! Mahiro would kill him!

_Well,_ began the Kansai Voice thoughtfully. _Maybe not kill. More like maim. It's all to teach you a lesson of course._

_And what lesson is that?_ Tsuna thought glumly.

_Oh, you know._ The Kansai Voive said cheerfully. _Not to bite off more than you can chew._

Tsuna felt an impression of a sneer as the Kansai Voice continued. _You know._...

_You're disgusting._ Tsuna felt disgusted. But maybe it was more of his ribs still feeling sore. Or maybe it was the nausea from when Hibari had jabbed him really hard in the stomach the other day.

_You have got to start fighting back, my man._ The Kansai Voice sounded disgusted. Tsuna still couldn't believe that the Kansai Voice was a part of him. It was just so... vulgar.

_That's easy for you to say. You're not the one getting pummeled each time I run into him._

_If it was me,_ the Kansai Voice said softly, _I'd have Mahiro take care of him just like back in the old days. _

_And you're the one calling me a pussy? _Tsuna thought angrily. _I want to face him on my own strength... or something like that._

_For a moment there, you sounded like you actually had a pair of balls but then you went back to being a pussy there at the end. Get Mahiro to train you up already._

And then as though Tsuna's inner thoughts had summoned her, Mahiro appeared at Tsuna's desk, chocolate bar in hand.

"Yo, Tsuna," Mahiro greeted.

"H-HIEE-OW!" Mahiro smacked him.

"J-Juudaime!" Gokudera exclaimed.

"Morning Mahiro-chan!" greeted Yamamoto.

"Yo," Mahiro nodded before turning her attention back to Tsuna. "I'm sick and tired of you squealing like a stuck pig at _every _little _thing _at _every _second of the _day _of _every _day of my _life_."

Tsuna tried to squeeze into the back of his desk, anything to get away from Mahiro's thunderous expression. He had a baaaad feeling about this.

She smiled, revealing her sharp teeth. "Time to start your training, Tsuna."

"HIIIIIEEEE-OW!" Tsuna rubbed his cheek. "You slapped me!"

"Like a bitch," Mahiro agreed.

"Mahiro, that's mean! And I'm a _boy_!"

Mahiro stared at him. "So?" She looked him up and down. "You don't look it. But don't worry, I'll help you out."

Tsuna started to shriek again but when Mahiro raised her hand threateningly, he shut his mouth. Mahiro patted his head like an owner praising their dog. "Good Tsuna. Good, boy."

"OI! STOP TREATING JUUDAIME LIKE THAT, STUPID WOMAN!"

Mahiro's hand shot out and closed over Gokudera's throat. "Sorry. What were you saying again? You want a pat on the head too?" Mahiro started to raise him up off the ground. A sweet gentle smile on her face. "Good boy. That's a good _doggie_. Wanna' go for a walk?"

"M-Mahiro!" Tsuna stuttered. He remembered that scary smile of hers. Too many times had Tsuna ran away in fear whenever he saw that smile. That smile meant... either some one was about to get hurt or... Mahiro was going to get some expensive chocolate.

_Hmmmmm? What do _you_ think it is, Tsuna?_ said his Kansai Voice. Kansai Voice had just about beaten up most of the other voices in Tsuna's head. Kansai Voice was now the predominant and loudest one. Kansai Voice now doubled as Tsuna's conscience most of the time and also as his self motivator. (We all know how much Tsuna needs to be motivated).

"Yes, Tsuna?" Mahiro's head turned a fraction towards him.

_That'll be five ninety five._ Oh god, Tsuna wanted to forget about that horrific event, but it just kept. Coming. _Back_.

_Just like me!_ said the Kansai Voice cheerfully.

Just then Saotome walked into the classroom, glaring daggers at Mahiro who just smiled back. Creepily. Saotome-sensei swung his head around and pretended he hadn't seen her.

The day preceded on without any further outbursts of violence or sugar fueled insanity. By the time that class was over, Mahiro had finished off over ten chocolate bars and Tsuna and co. were preparing to stalk Mahiro again.

They waited at the school entrance, waiting for her to appear.

"Man, Mahiro-chan sure is taking a long while to leave," stated Yamamoto.

"Che. The stupid woman." Gokudera took out a cigarette and began to light it only to have Yamamoto put it out with a smile.

"Smoking's really bad for your body, you know?"

"Grrr! You stupid baseball idiot!"

"Whatcha' doing?"

The trio froze.

"Well?" the newcomer prodded.

"Uh..." Tsuna began, weakly. "OW!"

Mahiro sighed. "Well. Let's get to it." She hooked her arm with Tsuna's before dragging him off. Gokudera and Yamamoto followed them helplessly.

"G-g-get to what?" Tsuna stuttered. "Don't you have work today?"

"No. Do you have a speech impediment too, Tsuna?" Mahiro asked, boredly. "How many bad habits have you picked up while I was away? Do you pick your nose now too?"

"No!" Tsuna answered, insulted.

"Do you still know that you're supposed to keep your thumb outside of your fist?"

"Huh? For what?" Tsuna was confused. Mahiro kept switching subjects too quickly for him to follow.

Mahiro sighed exasperatedly. "That's a lot of work. Man, Tsuna. Couldn't you have at least remembered something as simple as that?"

"Uh... no? Wait, what are you talking about!?"

"_Fighting_, Tsuna." They rounded the corner into an empty parking lot. "_Fighting_," she emphasized.

Tsuna sweatdropped. "What?"

There was a long silence. Mahiro said coldly, "Say 'what' again."

"What?" Tsuna said as he was met with a slap.

"Say what again. Japanese, motherfucker. Do you speak it?"

"W-What?" Another slap.

"For god's sake, Tsuna." Mahiro shook her head in disgust. Grabbed both his shoulders and shook him hard, like you shouldn't shake a baby. "Shut up."

Yamamoto broke out in a laugh. "Ahahaha. Look at all those shiny black cars. Is this part of your training for Tsuna, Mahiro-chan?"

They all stared at the shiny black cars. Several men dressed in black suits and wearing shades stepped out. A couple of them had vibrant tattoos on their necks, hands, and bald heads.

Reborn popped up from between Tsuna's legs. "They're yakuza," he said flatly. He turned to Tsuna and pulled out Leon. "The Momokyokai to be exact. Deal with them."

"EH!?" Tsuna shrieked.

Mahiro bared her teeth. "Yakuza," she snarled. She took a step back, ready to run even though all she wanted to do was run head first into the fray and start busting skulls. But the yakuza had connections that stretched all the way back to Tokyo. _Especially_ Tokyo. And Mahiro had a promise to keep. "Let's go Tsuna." She ordered, turning her back only to see that they were already surrounded. "Well, fuck a duck."

"Mahiro! That's not even possible!"

"People are sick sick bastards," she replied.

Gokudera and Yamamoto started to pull out their weapons. Gokudera, his dynamite and Yamamoto, his telescope/baseball bat/sword. Mahiro rolled her eyes. Amateurs.

The yakuza sneered and spat, a glob of yellow stinking mucus landed near Tsuna's foot. Gokudera jumped into action. No one. _No _one, disrespected Juudaime like that! _No_ one!

Mahiro saw Reborn shoot Tsuna in the forehead and she stared, uncomprehendedly. "T-Tsuna..." she whispered.

Tsuna fell down, flat on his back just to catch himself before he hit the ground. His clothes ripped apart, to reveal his skinny body and blue striped boxers. Mahiro watched with an incredulous expression as an orange flame erupted from Tsuna's forehead.

Da fuck?

Tsuna's normally large and doe like brown eyes became two orbs of orange flames, his eyes all slanty now. "REBORN! Defeat the Momokyokai with my dying will!" he roared before attacking the yakuza members.

In a matter of seconds, the battle was over and Tsuna reverted back to his normal state. He glanced over at Mahiro, expecting to see a look of _pride _maybe?

"Mahiro," he said tremulously. Mahiro seemed to be gathering her thoughts and Tsuna hoped that she'd be happy with him for becoming this strong.

Then Tsuna heard something that chilled him to the bone. Car tires, squealing. It was a sound foreign to the sleepy streets of Namimori. They came closer and Tsuna turned to see at least six more of those black cars pull up.

"B-Back up?" stammered Gokudera.

"Man, this mafia game sure is fun," Yamamoto chuckled, before shouldering his bat.

"Dame Tsuna. It's not over yet," Reborn commented.

Tsuna closed his eyes in annoyance.

A large heavy set man squeezed out of the driver's seat, surveying the bodies with a black scowl on his face. "Now what the hell is all this? Four middle schoolers and a baby took out twenty four men?" He waved his hand and the rest of his men emerged from their cars.

Tsuna glanced back at Mahiro, waiting for her congratulations. There was none forthcoming as Mahiro's fist slammed into Tsuna's face. He flew back a few meters, craddling his cheek when he got back up. He spat out a glob of blood. He had bitten his cheek at the impact.

"M-Mahiro?" he asked. "Why'd you hit me?"

Mahiro advanced across the distance she'd put between them. "You're so fucking stupid." her foot swung into his side but she pulled back at the last second. "So Tsuna. What the hell is going through your head right now? I gotta' know, 'cause y'see?" She crouched down in front of him. Her hand closed into a fist in front of his face.

"'Cause y'see," she continued. "From what you've just showed me. It looked like you'd used some kind of power boost there. And yet, you still haven't learned how to tuck your thumb _outside_ your fist." She demonstrated by punching him in the sternum. "Like that. See?"

Tsuna coughed, desperately trying to regain his breath. "St-stop Mahiro, you're hurting me.."

Mahiro's teeth were a flash of white in her face. "Yeah. About that. I'll bet you weren't feeling anything when you were fighting under the influence just a little while ago, eh?"

"M-Mahiro...?"

Tatsuo Ishinori was a bad guy. Anybody would tell you, even the new guys who barely knew him. He was also a relatively smart man, which is why he made the list when Anotsu came callin' for members. "You," he grunted at some newbies with flashy tat's on their faces. "Get over there and bum rush em' while they're busy."

"Osu!" they replied, and rushed over to decimate the unsuspecting middle schoolers.

Tsuna couldn't see anything but that smile on Mahiro's face. He'd never seen her this mad, even back when they'd faced off the school bullies together. It terrified him. Mahiro was looking down at Tsuna like- like he was a bug to squish. The same look she had given to those school bullies years back.

"Mahiro," Tsuna said quietly, "I don't understand. I got stronger. Just like you always wanted. Why are you so _angry_?"

Mahiro didn't reply. Her cool dark eyes were like chips of glass. They never left Tsuna's face even when she swayed to the side to avoid the crowbar sweeping out of nowhere. The blade of her hand struck at the man's wrist, forcing him to release the crowbar. She spun around. Catching the falling weapon, she swung low, shattering the man's kneecap with a satisfying crunch. Then, to make sure he stayed down, she hit him at the back of the neck, sending him off to lala land. He slumped, his cry of pain cut off short. Mahiro slowly turned to face the rest of the yakuza who had been frozen, so shocked at the ruthlessness of her actions.

She grinned, eyes like black holes. The crowbar was a comfortable weight in her hand, and she beckoned the men towards her, hungry for more.

Tsuna had forgotten. He didn't know how he could've but he'd forgotten just what Mahiro was capable of.

Oh, geez. The Kansai Voice muttered. Geez, you've fucked up but good.

"I don't get it." Tsuna said tearfully to himself. "I just don't get it. Why is she so mad?"

Tsuna watched while Mahiro used the crowbar like a night stick, clubbing yakuza left and right while they rushed at her. Mahiro's braids whipped in the air as she leaped off another yakuza, to land feet first into another's mid-section.

She's brutal. Mahiro's really trying to hurt these guys! Tsuna scrambled to his feet, arms and legs flailing while he ran into the fray.

Aw, fuck! Do you want to get your head bashed in? The Kansai Voice complained. Tsuna gulped back a shriek, stumbling out the way of a bloody faced yakuza that crashed face first into the asphalt. He didn't see the opportunistic yakuza slinking around him, a heavy chain clenched in his fist. He grinned, rotting yellow teeth flashing in his ruddy red face, and swung hard enough with the chain, that it would have taken Tsuna's head clean off his neck.

_Behind you!_ Tsuna turned, his arm already rising to block- _No, idiot! Duck! DU-UUCK!_

_Oh no_. Tsuna thought dreamily. _All I see is black._

_Huh, funny. I would've thought your head would make a more squishy sound. Oh wait. Oh shi-!_

The heavy chain coiled like a snake around the solid steel of Hibari's tonfas. Tsuna realized now that what he'd thought was the emptiness of the otherside, was actually Hibari's trade-mark black jacket.

Hibari yanked the yakuza in as easily as reeling in a fish, and clubbed him over the head. Tsuna watched, with his gorge rising in his throat, as Hibari slowly smirked at him over his shoulder.

"Herbivore, you ought to get out of the way." Hibari shook blood off his tonfa's with a gleam in his eyes. "It's about time I settle the score with that herbivore." He motioned towards Mahiro who was currently bashing up a storm.

Tsuna's eyebrows shot up high. "She's...a little busy right now." He said lamely, while the Kansai Voice roared with laughter.

_He keeps calling her an herbivore, I don't think he understands what it means! Ah hahaha! What a douche._

"Come back later...?"

Tsuna bit back his shriek again, it was easier this time. Probably because even if Hibari had grabbed hold of his throat with full intent to choke him... Mahiro was still the scariest beast in the parking lot right now.

"L-L-Let go of me." Tsuna gritted out from between chattering teeth. _OOh! Balls! Do I see them? The Kansai Voice cheered._

Strangely enough, he did. He dropped him like yesterday's trash, leaving Tsuna to crumble at his feet. Tsuna realized why a second later. The yakuza littered the parking lot like used condom wrappers on the floor of a love motel, and Hibari skirted around them (knocking unconscious those who dared to stand in the way of his goal).

"Oh, no! Mahiro!" Tsuna scrambled to his feet. "Mahiro!"

Damn, this was all so fun. Mahiro giggled. The yakuza beneath her kept sobbing while she broke another finger on his left hand. He'd brought a gun, a gun to a fist fight! Not cool in her opinion!

That was about as cowardly, underhanded, and cheap as you got. Like using steroids in the Olympics, or putting thumb tacks in your track rival's shoes, or, and this was just a possiblity, maybe it was your best friend using a magical bullet to become a Don instead of through his own strength...

Mahiro's smile no longer even resembled a human expression.

Tatsuo Ishinori was a bad man; he was also a relatively smart man. He knew when his death was staring him in his face. This girl was... she was no girl. He'd seen a look like that on those nature documentaries about tigers. It was the look of satisfaction and focus on a tiger's face, right before it pounced, and all four hundred pounds of deadly, claw tipped force.

"P-P-Please..." His tongue was fat and swollen; blood streaked his face, eyes swollen like he was packing baseballs. Tatsuo could hear himself sobbing like a bitch, "P-p-pleeea-ase."

The girl stared down at him, lips curled upward in a cruel facismile of a smile. Blood, other's, not her own, streaked her face also, but on her, it was like primitive war paint. She leaned in close, the sharp chiseled edge of the crowbar slipping beneath Tatsuo's chin. Tatsuo trembled, raising his chin, but avoiding eye contact. He didn't want to die while looking into those bottomless pits.

"Listen- no, shh-shh-shh, don't start crying now. All I want is for you and your men to carry a message for me okay?" Her voice was gentle, like a mother chiding her son.

"A-anything! J-just please, don't kill me!" Tatsuo shivered, cutting himself off. The chiseled edge let up on the pressure a bit. Mahiro smiled again, feeling the familiar deep seated rage surge and crash against her humanity. It helped how the yakuza wasn't wriggling around so much anymore.

"Tell your boss, if the hospital bill doesn't convince him that is," Mahiro added dreamily. "Tell him that kids and women are off limits in this town, yeah?"

Tatsuo nodded vigorously, his jaw loose and flapping in his disbelief that he was actually going to survive-

"Good." Mahiro stepped off of him. She watched him scramble and stumble to one of the cars, and take off like the hounds of hell were nipping at his heels along with the rest of his men who were playing dead to keep out of Mahiro's way. Mahiro let the crowbar slip loose and easy into her hand from where she'd tucked it in her armpit, and swung viciously up and around.

Hibari was knocked a solid foot back. Breath hissed from between clenched teeth. "Herbivore, you'll pay for that." Hibari uncrossed his tonfas, and refused to acknowledge the buzzing numbness radiating from his forearms.

Mahiro gave him a standing kick, right to the front. Her sneakered foot slammed into his unprotected chest, kicking the breath (literally) out of the black haired boy. Mahiro's eyes were wide and blank, a grinning skull with flesh and skin.

"And you'll be the one to make me pay huh?" Mahiro walked over to his prone body. A metal tonfa blurred with speed at about ankle level, but Mahiro was used to people playing dead in other fights, other places. She lifted her foot, and turned it out so it struck the toughened plastic instead of shattering her ankle bones. In the same movement, she slapped it away with her foot, and then brought it back against the underside of Hibari's chin.

She kicked him so hard he flipped up in the air, but other than a thin stream of red dribbling down the side of his mouth, Hibari seemed largely unharmed. He jumped onto his feet, tonfas brought up, and his face burning with cool rage.

Mahiro laughed, loudly. "Aw, aren't you cute?"

Hibari snorted, and spat out the blood to the side. His chinky dark eyes were little more than slits at this point. "You talk too much." He said coolly. He dashed forward, Mahiro's maddening grin filling his whole world.

The sharp clank of their weapons seemed to echo in the parking lot. Mahiro swatted aside the tonfa, and then grabbed the other and twisted. She used the crowbar as a lever, eventually forcing Hibari's arm behind his back, and forcing him, through some clever manipulation of pressure points to loosen his grasp on his tonfa's handle. Hibari growled, his entire body shaking with his rage. He threw Mahiro off, whipping his remaining tonfa out and around. Intent on smashing her in her smug grinning face.

"Herbivore!" Hibari snarled. He barely brought up his tonfa in time to block the strike to his side with that crowbar. He forgot about his stolen one, and the long rod part hooked into his elbow and armpit. Hibari's eyes flew wide open with shock and then, for the second time since the fight had started, Hibari was lifted off his feet by a girl.

Mahiro kicked up, grinning wolfishly as she heard the tell-tale pop of a shoulder separating. Hibari hit the ground with a sickening thump, pain shrieking through his body. A guttural sounding cough was the only sign of his excruciating pain, and the boy forced himself back onto his feet.

Mahiro turned nonchalantly, twirling the tonfa around her forearm. "It seems to me," Mahiro said politely, "that you don't quite know how to handle your own weapon."

Hibari ran the back of his dusty hand over his mouth, hiding his grimace of pain while wiping away his blood. "I am going to bite you to death." Hibari promised. He switched his tonfa over to his undamaged hand. "Herbivore."

Her lips curled. "You keep saying that word. I do not think it means, what you think it means."

"It means..." Hibari spun the tonfa so it faced out, "That I am on top of the food chain here at Namimori-chu."

"Aa-ah..!" Mahiro clicked her tongue annoyingly. "Well, not anymore." And she grinned with her tiger's smile.

A bullet split the space between them, breaking Mahiro out of her homicidal rage while Hibari jumped back.

"That's enough, Mahiro."

Mahiro turned, her eyes glittering dangerously beneath the sweaty fringe of her bangs. "I'll say when it's enough, Reborn," Mahiro adjusted her grip on the tonfa and crowbar infinitesimally.

Yamamoto and Gokudera watched Mahiro cautiously, Gokudera's hands clenched tightly around his dynamite, ready to throw them at her if needed to be. Yamamoto's always present smile was wiped off his face, his bat had turned into a sword and he held it tightly in front of him. Reborn stood in front of the trio, gun still held up at Mahiro.

"That's enough," he said again.

Mahiro sneered. "Are you going to shoot me?"

Tsuna, who had been watching all of this, had finally found words to say. "S-Stop it, you two!"

Tsuna shrank back as Mahiro turned her smouldering gaze upon him. "You got something to say, _Sawada_?"

Sawada. Mahiro had never called him that, even when they'd first met. It was always Tsuna or Tsu-kun; never Sawada. They were just that close.

_Or at the very least they used to be._ Kansai Voice added very softly.

"I...-" Tsuna stopped, his nerve failing him underneath Mahiro's regard.

Slow clapping ensued. "That was amazing, Sawada. That was the smartest and intuitive thing you've done since I came back." Mahiro stopped clapping abruptly, her lips curling up in a sneer. And then she hissed. "You learned to shut. The. Fuck. Up."

"Mahiro!"

"Oi, don't speak like that to Juudaime!" Gokudera growled, trying to defend his Boss.

Mahiro threw a cold glare towards Gokudera, silencing him. She turned back to Tsuna. "You are pathetic, a mewling sodden waste of life and resources."

Tsuna flushed with anger. He didn't understand what was happening but he still thought that this was his old childhood friend Mahiro. Maybe she was just giving him an old lecture. Maybe she was just testing him again. Whichever one it was, Mahiro had gone too far.

Mahiro waved towards Reborn. "And you, you're supposed to be teaching Sawada over here how to become a _capable_ Mafia boss. Instead, you're teaching him how to rely on drugs and outside influences! You're about as useless as Sawada is. And I never thought I'd meet someone as useless as him other than his mother."

"Don't talk about my mother like that!" Tsuna glared up at her, fists clenching at his sides.

"Oooh~! Has someone grown a backbone?" Mahiro goaded. "Now all that's left are a pair of balls."

"Shut UP! You don't know anything about my mom! You don't know anything about me!" Tsuna yelled fiercely. "You left! You weren't there for me! Every day of my life since you left, I'd been bullied mercilessly, always being called dame-Tsuna!"

Mahiro raised a brow, shouldering her bloodied crowbar.

_Oh, you fucking idiot, shu~ut u~p!_ Kansai-Voice moaned.

_You shut up!_ Tsuna thought hotly, _that is my mother, my friends. This is my body! Shut up before I go and get myself a lobotomy!_

_Hell, you might just do that won't you? You can't possibly get any more stupid._

Tsuna continued. "You weren't there at all! Friends are supposed to be able to count on each other! At least Reborn was here! Because of him I actually have friends now, but then you just waltz back into my life and start thinking that you can order me around again? NO! And not only that," Tsuna started panting. "But you started disrespecting my friends, Reborn and my mom! A-And…" Tsuna started to run out of fuel. "I'm strong now, without your help."

He looked at her expectantly.

Mahiro picked her ear and then looked at the result on her fingertip. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said lightly. "I couldn't hear you over the sound of you sucking on Reborn's cock."

Kansai voice said heh.

Tsuna let out an incoherent scream of rage.

Mahiro continued with a wide eyed look on her face. "Oh, wait never mind. I meant to say, I couldn't hear you over the sound of you sucking on Hibari's _cock_."

"You're just mad that I'm stronger now and without your help!" he reiterated.

Mahiro cocked her head to the side. "You call that strength? All that is, is a cheap trick, Sawada. That muscle bound monkey, Ryohei and that orally fixated freak behind me have what you would call strength." She jerked a thumb at Hibari and then nodded towards Gokudera and Yamamoto. "That terrorist and weirdly happy guy who laughs randomly behind you, have what you call _strength_."

She caught the mutinous look on Tsuna's face. She could tell that he was refusing to listen to what she was trying to say. "Don't get me wrong. There are other kinds of strength other than physical, but shit Sawada. You don't have _any_ of them."

_Mahiro's right, strength may flag, but you sure as hell don't get it out of a bullet shaped pill Tsuna! Grow a brain and shut up!_ Kansai-Voice howled.

_My body,_ Tsuna thought grimly. _You just crawl back into whatever corner of my head you scuttled out of, and let me handle this. Mahiro thinks that this isn't real strength? I'll show her differently._

"Reborn. Shoot me." Those simple words had Reborn a bit shocked. Dame Tsuna who always whined about getting shot with the Dying Will Bullet was now asking for it? Reborn's bad feeling worsened. If it had been a dark raincloud early that week, it was now a full blown typhoon.

"Alright, Tsuna." Reborn turned the muzzle of his gun towards Tsuna and shot him, point blank.

"REBORN! DEFEAT MAHIRO WITH MY DYING WILL!"

Tsuna sped towards Mahiro, flames in his eyes, teeth gritted, sparks streaming in his wake. It was like every other time that Tsuna had been shot with the bullet. He had the strength. He had the flames. He had the desperation.

_Ohhhh…_ Kansai-voice wailed.

But in the end it was all just a trick after all.

Fuuu-uuck.

Mahiro grabbed him. One hand in his gravity defying hair, the other in the front of his shirt, she propelled him up and over her shoulder and Tsuna slammed face first into the asphalt.

Mahiro cracked her neck. "Even cheating Sawada, you can never defeat me. Not the way that you are now."

Tsuna groaned in pain. His arm was trapped underneath him and from the sharp stabbing agony, he could tell that it was broken or at the very least, sprained. "W-Why Ma-hi-ro?"

He could just barely make out the expression on her face. He felt guilt swamp him as Mahiro's next words left her mouth.

"Maybe you really are just dame, Tsuna," she turned away, tossing the tonfa at the Hibari's head, before exiting the parking lot. But not before throwing a final one finger salute to Reborn. "I'm done with this shitty club. See ya."

Tsuna felt a part of him wilt with Mahiro's departure.

_You done goofed, Tsuna._ Kansai Voice said glumly.

Tsuna could not help but agree. All his life Tsuna had been deemed no good. Dame. No one expected anything from him. Even his own mother didn't expect anything from him. She had even called him a loser in front of Kyoko-chan. His own _mother_!

_Only Mahiro._ Kansai voice offered glumly.

Tsuna gritted his teeth and tried to roll onto his back, but the pain was just too much. He stayed where he was; face down, prostate at the altar of his own stupidity.

Mahiro had been the only one to ever actually expect something from him. She'd expected him to stand by her side as an equal. Not as a gofer, punching bag, or a burden but as an equal, as her friend. He didn't understand, not really, why she chose to abandon him now.

Kansai voice sighed, and Tsuna felt the mental equivalent of a reassuring pat on his shoulder._ Don't worry; I'll be sure to explain what you've done to Mahiro's respect in you, while you're in the hospital._

"Why..?" Tsuna said, tears in his eyes. The boy slumped into the asphalt, feeling the sharp stones dig into his face.

Reborn knew that he ought to be rushing forward to give his ward a good kick in the rear. But he was too shocked, too disturbed. The Dying Will Flames! They had died out as if they were just regular flames. Impossible, nothing could extinguish the Dying Will Flames except for when the user's time ran out.

Reborn knew, as all hitmen knew, that surprises could be deadly in their business. Grimly, Reborn holstered Leon.

This had been a rather surprising day.

* * *

Anotsu Takatori surveyed his monitors, watching and re-watching the fight that had been streaming live on his monitors. He hit replay again, cursing underneath his breath as he watched his subordinates get their asses handed to them by a girl in braided pigtails and a tonfa wielding boy. Some of the microphones and cameras that he'd had planted onto his subordinate's collars and cuffs had gotten smashed in the ensuing battle. But a few functioned well enough that he was able to listen in to and watch the conversations and the threats that had been handed out. Luckily, there had been some lucky instruments that had survived the fight and remained undamaged enough to capture the targets' conversation even after the original carriers had turned tail and left. He would deal with them later. They were only disposable after all.

Anotsu rested his cheek against his palm, cool brown eyes flickering with rage. The kids on screen were strong. Very strong. Anotsu would have to nip them in the bud. He could not allow them to flourish and even if they were kids, they still posed a threat to his power. He hadn't gotten this far by being merciful and he wouldn't start such an odious habit now.

He replayed the video again and nearly spat out the coffee that he was drinking when he heard the girl's name. Mahiro. That was the same name of that brat that that woman used to have hanging around her. The brat was older now, but Anotsu would never forget those eyes, or that fiendish expression of pleasure.

A sly smile made its way to his face as he remembered that the brat was the younger sister of that hateful investigator. Hisagi. Masahiro Hisagi.

* * *

**Key Terms:**

***Bouncing Betty:** Originally called the German S-mine or Schrapnellmine, it was used by the Nazis in WWII. It was coined Bouncing Betty by the French soldiers who encountered it because when it was detonated, it would bounce up around crotch level and unleash a spray of shrapnel that would unman or kill the unlucky soldier.

****Kobe:** Lambo wears a cow suit and his last name means cattle. Kobe beef. Cattle. 'Nuff said.**  
**

**A/N: So how was the 6th chapter? Yes, Mahiro blows up at Tsuna and Hibari gets his ass handed to him again but who could blame Mahiro for getting angry and knowing how to use tonfas better than Hibari did?**

**Mahiro sees Tsuna's use of the Dying Will Bullet like cheating in the Olympics (anyone actually watching the Olympics. I'm not). You may argue that the Dying Will Bullet only reveals Tsuna's true potential but why can't Reborn draw it out without the use of the bullet? Yes, I know that Tsuna eventually learns how to draw that part of himself out by himself but right now, it's cheating. Right now, Tsuna can't do anything without having to depend on the Dying Will Bullet and to Mahiro, this is _cheating_. Heck, he doesn't even know how to punch correctly, for fritter's sake!  
**

**And there goes my rant/explaination about why Mahiro blows up at Tsuna. Anyways, I loved writing Tsuna's Kansai Voice. He's so vulgar! It's the part inside of Tsuna that knows all the bad shit and just plain... badass, I guess. I'm always wondering why Tsuna doesn't think as much or as deep as he does in the Canon as he does with Kansai Voice.  
**

**The anime doesn't really show how Hibari uses his tonfas, does it? The fighting scenes aren't really all that great compared to Gintama or Darker than Black. If you Youtube how to use tonfas, you'd find that you use them to hook your opponent towards you and then smack them around with it.  
**

**Anyone catch the Princess Bride reference? **"You keep saying that word. I do not _think_ it means, what you think it _means._" **INCONCEIVABLE! **

**Hmmm. So that's all I've got to say for the author's note. Thank you very much, everyone for reviewing! Your reviews keep me going so keep doing what you're doing!  
**


	7. Fishcakes Anybody want ramen?

******Disclaimer: KHR belongs to Amano Akira. Mahiro, the Hisagi family, Papa's Tasty Fritters, and Anotsu Takatori belong to sky of c-o-l-o-r-s**

******A/N: GAWD! I am so happy to have finished this chapter! It took forever! I hope that I was able to convey Mahiro's and Tsuna's feelings well. It's hard writing angst. You can't make it too dramatic or too little. HAS BEEN BETA-ed.  
**

******Some quick references so you aren't confused while reading this.  
**

**Hisagi Family:** Kiyomi/Kiyo (Mom), Manabu/ Mana (Eldest son; Information Broker), Masahiro/ Masa (2nd eldest son; private investigator/ policeman), Sumire (Eldest daughter, third eldest; Doctor), Jun (3rd eldest son, 2nd youngest; high school student), Raizo/ Rai (Dad).******  
**

**Momokyokai yakuza:** Anotsu Takatori (Boss/ Aniki; has some hate against Masahiro(?) and knows Mahiro(?)), Tatsuo Ishinori (Guy who got his fingers broken by Mahiro in Ch. 6)

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Palermo, Italy**

_Someone was going to pay for wasting his time._ Jun un-wrapped a chocolate lollipop and popped it between his lips. He flattened himself against the wall, seemingly indifferent about keeping it clean. Although that was probably for the best, since the tan jacket was already streaked with his sweat and blo-_shit._ Jun swore underneath his breath, and tucked in his chin while a group of bloodied, angry Italian thugs ran past shouting.

"_Andò così!_" He went that way. Jun tucked away the sharp blade he'd pulled from the inside of his sleeve. You could never be too careful while abroad. People were people, and there were bound to be some dumbasses who thought it'd be fun to fuck with a tourist. Though this _was_ the first occasion Jun actually had _had_ to use some of his hidden weapons. He hadn't gotten in one fight since the plane landed on Italian soil.

The trick, Jun had learned, was not to rise to petty insults-

"_Figlio di puttana!_" Son of a whore! The sugary, chocolatey lollipop cracked between his grinding molars. _Son of a whore?_ Oh hell no...

Jun seethed silently. His sensually curved lips flattening out into a grim line while bloody thoughts of retribution consumed his mind. Jun had his blade in hand, and was already moving before he remembered _why_ he'd ducked into this godforsaken aclove.

Jun paused, closed his eyes, dropped his knife, and counted to ten beneath his breath. When Jun could think again without wanting to shove his knife down someone's gullet, he picked it up. Jun would have to remember to find that ass-wipe before his field trip was over.

Jun smiled a _tense _smile to himself. Those anger management courses weren't a waste of his time after all. He'd have to thank his dad _again,_ that annoying guy.

The running faded in the distance. Jun did not breathe a sigh of relief. Instead he crunched down loudly on the chocolate lollipop (which had about the same meaning). Jun straightened up and moved away from the aclove. His hand disappeared into the front pocket of his jacket, fished around for a bit, then pulled out his cell phone.

He started to text, rolling the swiftly melting hard candy around his mouth while he walked calmly down the crowded street, just another high school student separated from his group, nothing to see here.

_Masa,_

_Bad news, they had it trashed by the time I arrived. _

Jun stopped texting, scratched his head a little. He knew that his older brother, him being a professional investigator, wouldn't like what Jun had done when he'd seen _that_ going on. Ah, well. Jun was relatively cool tempered compared to the rest of his siblings, but he _was_ a Hisagiafter all.

_Information retrieval was impossible from the mainframe. They also had the place booby-trapped to call reinforcements. When they arrived I had to fight my way out-_

That still annoyed him. Jun had gone in too hot. He hadn't bothered to check if the rundown bar still had a working alarm system. Dangerous and stupid, Jun chuckled to himself, while he spun on his heel to avoid a lovey-dovey couple. That sounded more like Mahiro's speed than his.

_I was chased for a while but lost them in an alley. Should I continue to investigate while I'm here?_

_Jun._

_P.S. I'll try and get some souvenirs. But I doubt that the spaghetti will keep for long. Keep looking for Hiro. _

_And _send. Jun finished the text at the same time he finished his lollipop and started to absently pat his front pocket for another, which was about the time two fingers, holding a thin cigarette jabbed under his nose. Jun looked up, one eyebrow rising incredulously while the plastic straw of the lollipop drooped between his lips.

A pretty Italian woman leered down at him. Jun smiled politely and waved the cigarette away. He was hoping the woman would go away as well.

"No, _grazie." _Jun pulled out the plastic stub, "_E' candy._" The girl, Jun had realized that she was around his age, pouted exaggeratedly. Jun sweat dropped. She appeared to be a native, but without any of the native suavity that Italy was famous for. She was about as smooth as sandpaper from the way she beamed down at him.

"_Lei parla Italiano?_" Do you speak italian?

She purred hopefully, or at least Jun thought it was a purr. It could just as easily be her horrific smoking habit acting up. Sad, and disgusting. Jun had made out with a few smokers before, it was like licking an ashtray, and about as arousing as well.

"_Si."_ Jun hoped his blunt, monosyllable replies would turn her off. He also wished she'd take that coffin nail out from under his nose. Which reminded Jun that he had to talk to mom about Manabu's habit. Just because the man had chosen a job that didn't require a life of action, didn't mean he could cut his own life short by sucking on cancer sticks for shits and giggles- and this chick would _still not take the hint._

She continued talking, her interest in him blatant. "_Il mio nome è Lele. Il tuo?"_ My name is Lele. Yours?

"_Jun_." Jun was flattered, he really was. This was the fifth time today, counting the gaggle of Italian school girls he'd got numbers off of, that he'd been hit on. But there were the sensual, sophisticated advances of the European cuties, and then _this_. Jun normally loved girls, but something about this one was tripping off all his inner crazy-stalker alarms.

Jun had had to develop them at an early age. Middle school and high school continued to be a trying, but fun time for him in terms of girl troubles. As long as he continued to take his mom's advice to heart, to be nice but firm with the few crazies he was bound to encounter, Jun had no problem neutralizing any scary obsessions. Nice, but firm, didn't mean that he had to be rude though.

" _Mi dispiace, ma il mio cuore appartiene a un altro_," I'm sorry, but my heart belongs to another. Jun smiled, pitching his voice to bring out the brass undertones. One of his fans had sighed over it just the other day.

"Like silk," the fan had blushed hotly in his wake. Jun had grinned over that then, and he grinned now, the perfect picture of a teenage boy head over heels in love, (not that Jun would know for real, but he'd practiced the look in the mirror just for these sorts of situations). Jun looked into the far distance, letting a soft growl undercut his Italian to further accentuate the sheer romance of his words.

I have someone important to me_. _

"_Ho una persona importante per me_." Jun sighed, turning back to lock dreamy, bedroom eyes with the pink faced girl. Jun made sure to school his features into an expression of bitter sweet sadness that yet held a contentment that said: here is the wild beast that used to run wild, but having been chained by the locks of a maiden, discovered a different sweeter freedom. A shame, that that maiden hadn't been _you._

"_Non posso essere con voi per il mio Edelweiss_." Jun said softly, letting his native Japanese accent color his Italian slightly.

I can't be with you for I have my Edelweiss…

"_Edelweiss_?" The girl seemed to sway, her lips trembling from Jun's onslaught. Then she shook herself out of her romantic daze. Sharply, she asked. "_Non è che un tipo di fiore?_"

Isn't that a type of flower?

Jun grinned. "_Si, è un tipo di fiore_."

Yes, it is a type of flower. Jun adopted the love-struck-playboy mask again, staring at an imaginary tower in the distance, all the while laughing inwardly at her fuming face. Dreamily, he continued softly, "_E 'il fiore più bello di tutti._" It is the most beautiful flower of all.

"_Weirdo!"_ Lulu? Lela? Limo snapped, before turning tail. "Damned tourists!" She snapped in badly accented English.

Jun watched her go with a relieved expression. Then he forgot all about her in the next second when his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. It was in his hand mid-tremble. "Hello?"

"Hisagi, where the hell are you?" Kasuki Tegawa was Jun's best friend, and for some reason, this also meant to the school _and_ Kasuki, that he was _also_ Jun's _babysitter_.

Jun sucked his teeth irritably. Kasuki was getting that shrill edge to his normally deep voice again, Jun had just sent some rather disappointing news to Masahiro, and he'd run out of chocolate. Today had been altogether disappointing. Jun did not like disappointing days. "I'm in Palermo."

Silence. "Why are you in _Palermo_? Our hotel is in _Capaci_! We are _in_ Capaci!"

Jun hailed a cab. "I ran out of chocolate lollipops."

"So you went to Palermo which is practically a city sized slum? And for _chocolate lollipops_, why didn't you just buy some from the front desk!?"

"You ever heard the saying, that to _really_ experience a city, you had to get lost in it?" A rickety cab, with dull looking headlights and a scowling man behind the wheel pulled up.

There was another ominous silence from the other side of the line. "So you got lost, aaalll the way to Palermo? And don't you dare quote Andrew Zimmern at me!"

Jun jumped into the cab, and gave him a hundred or so dollars in cash. His part time job paid rather well, so he could afford it _and _his chocolate addiction. It was a real shame that Mahiro had gone missing when she did, Jun knew that there were some overpriced, _killer_ chocolate to be found in Italy.

"Oh, sorry, I'm getting a text from my bro, hang on." Jun looked almost harried. He pressed the button to show his text. Kasuki was worse than Manabu was sometimes. Now Jun knew how Mahiro felt whenever they started to get overprotective of her.

Jun smiled, his classic, boy band good looks softening when he thought about his baby sister. The cab drove, making its way up the winding street.

And then he saw the text.

_Jun,_

_This is Mom. I know what you three are doing, and I want it to stop. Now._

Jun sucked in a horrified breath. Mom must have grabbed Masahiro's phone-

_Naah, just messing with you. This is Masa. I think you ought to leave sleeping dogs lie over there; we don't want to start a blood bath. Mana and Helga will handle the rest over here and I don't want you stranded over there in mafia territory. BTW, I still want the spaghetti._

_P.S. did I scare you? _:)

Jun felt his eyelid twitch. Count to ten, count to ten… He reminded himself. Remember the anger counseling…

* * *

Mahiro had forgotten how good it felt to beat the crap out of someone. The power. The physical pain on her end and the veritable agony sustained on the other. There was nothing quite like it, nothing quite like that feeling of conquering, and subjugating, and reducing the shit heads stupid enough to cross her into puddles of meat and excrement-

Mahiro doubled over and threw up.

Mahiro wiped the vomit from her mouth and continued on home, her hands both bruised and bloodied, dried blood caked under her nails.

Her expression was grim. The taste in her mouth foul. Her twin braids were messy and damp with her sweat. Her legs felt wobbly, they ached from the long period of disuse. She kept walking, a lone girl on a largely deserted and dilapidated street. But if there was anyone sneaking around looking for an easy mark, they were smart enough to keep their heads down and out of her way. In her current mood, she'd be liable to kill anyone stupid enough to cross her.

Because Mahiro was doing something she'd been doing a lot of lately with no one to fight and with too much time on her hands.

Mahiro was _thinking_.

She was thinking about her friend Tsuna and how she _knew_ that Tsuna had become weak. He'd been weak from the start, but it had been shallow, like a spot of rot on the skin of a young fruit. But in the time that she'd been away, Tsuna had begun to rot from the inside out; from the very core of him. It had been easy to cut that weakness out of him then, but you can't do anything with a rot like this. You could only throw away the fruit.

_But Tsuna was your friend. He'd always been your friend even when everyone had been too afraid of you to even get near you. _A voice cried from inside her.

Mahiro shook off the thought immediately. _No. Was. Tsuna __**was**__ my friend. Now, he's just a coward. A pathetic excuse for a mafia boss and a friend. I don't want to have anything to do with someone like that._

The voice continued to argue. _You know he's a good friend. He'd never abandon you. He's the only friend you've ever had. He's been with you since you guys first met. _

_Wasn't that just because I'd been easy to befriend, and also the strongest kid on the block?_ Mahiro thought grimly. _But nothing's changed at all. He'd hid behind me then because I was the strongest. He'd only fought beside me _then_ because he knew I was right there in case he messed up too badly. All this mafia crap with Reborn is just the same shit, different trash can. Tsuna knows Reborn's strong. He knows that the bullet Reborn shoots him with gives him strength without fear. But hell, you can't survive a street fight without a healthy dose of fear! And Reborn's not even bothering to wean Tsuna off it and give him a strength he can depend on when the going gets rough!_

_Do you really think that Tsuna is that kind of person? _Countered the voice. _Do you really see Tsuna as the kind of person to leech off another for his own benefit? Is he that despicable?_

Mahiro didn't answer. Instead, she unlocked the door to her apartment, and threw all her things onto the ground.

Mahiro knew little of the Italian mafia underworld but the little she knew about it, showed that it was a world which had no room for the weak. If Tsuna was going to be involved in a dangerous world like that, he would need all the strength that he could get.

There was just no _room_ for cowardice in a boss. He would have to learn to be a leader for his future subordinates and be the standing force which would hold his men and women together. Tsuna had to learn to stand on his own feet. He could not always depend on Reborn or Mahiro whenever there was danger.

They had to cut the umbilical cord sometime. She didn't really care if Tsuna hated her now for what she'd had to do.

Mahiro entered the bathroom and turned on the shower, hoping that along with the blood, sweat, and grime, the water would wash away the heavy turmoil inside her.

But that stupid little voice in the back of her head still wouldn't shut _up_.

_You left him_. _Tsuna might've failed today, but you'd failed him a long time before then. _It said.

"I thought that he'dgrow _strong_." Mahiro gritted out, refusing to believe that the hot tracks streaming down her face were tears.

Y_ou left him when you were his only ally. His own parents didn't care about the bullies, and they still don't_. _What did you _think_ would happen to him as a little, wimpy kid without you there?_ _Your mom must've had known this, that's why she sent you back here. Not to berate and abandon him, but to finish the job you started._The voice said. _To make him strong_.

And instead she'd forgotten everything. She couldn't believe she'd been so blind..!

"Damn it!" Mahiro slammed a fist against the wall, regardless of how much it hurt when the scabs over her knuckles broke open again. Guilt, shame, and frustration plagued her. The shame and guilt was from knowing how she hadn't been able to keep either of her promises to them.

Mahiro _had_ left Tsuna before he was able to support himself. She'd forgotten everything about how easily swayed Tsuna was. How blind his parents were in realizing the damage being dealt to Tsuna's physical, and emotional health.

She'd also forgotten her promise with her mother about living peacefully and instead had glutted herself on violence like a fat tick in a horse's armpit. The number one woman who Mahiro looked up to. And she'd failed her.

Mahiro knew that even if her mom knew that Mahiro had broken the agreement- which she probably already did- and had caused trouble in Namimori, she would just get off with an exasperated sigh and a slap on the wrist. Maybe a lecture or two but that was it.

That had always been the way how her mom raised her and her siblings. Even if they hadn't lived up to her expectations, that was fine. There would be no punishments of the corporeal nature, her siblings would just have to live with the fact that they'd disappointed her.

And Mahiro Hisagi, despite being a substantial distance away from her mother's reproving wry smiles, shrank into herself with shame.

"Damn it..!" Mahiro whispered. Her bleeding knuckles left stains on the shower stall.

The hot water pitter-patted on her back, as if it were a living companion offering support.

* * *

Tatsuo Ishinori stood as straight and tall as he could with his injuries. The large, bald man didn't want to appear weak in front of his brothers, especially while they were being beaten for his fucking mistake. As if the injuries from that feral girl were not enough, they were also getting a second beatdown for fucking up in the first place. That'd make even the most loyal of men get pissy, and Tatsuo knew that all of his 'brothers' were only as loyal as they were made to be. The minute they sensed any weakness, they'd turn on each other (him!) without a second thought. That was how their world worked. This was their world of the strong, of the Yakuza. And out of all the bosses he'd seen passing through this world, this guy, Tatsuo shivered, this guy was the _strongest_.

"You guys are lucky," Anotsu addressed them, eyes meeting each and every one of the unsuccessful yakuza members. They visibly straightened up, even though doing so caused them much pain.

Anotsu Takatori may have been a young boss, but there was no denying the fact that he had the power and charisma to lead. Rumor had it that he had been the oyabun of the Kokusui-kai* gang's second most trusted man. After the Kokusui-kai had been merged with the larger and more powerful Yamaguchi-gumi**, the Kokusui-kai's boss committed suicide not two years later. The Kokusei-kai then fought against the Sumiyoshi-kai***, a rival gang, over gang territory. The two gangs eventually came to an agreement to stop the fighting but there had been speculations that the former boss of the Sumiyoshi-kai along with several other members were killed by Anotsu Takatori alone. He would have been no older than nineteen during that time.

And so the veteran members of the Momokyokai stood at attention- or in most of their cases- sat up at attention as Anotsu spoke. His six foot one stature was not very intimidating. He was not as musclebound as most Yakuza members or as rugged as them either. He was a handsome man with short black hair and a fringe swept to the right of his face. It did nothing to hide the wickedly gruesome scar running down that side of his face. It had been sustained during a rival gang's attack a few years back, and was reportedly almost life threatening in it's severity.

That and the blue-green tattoos on his shoulder running and down his back weren't the characteristics that demanded the most attention and respect. It was his hard and calculating eyes. They missed nothing, constantly sizing up his opponents, noticing even the smallest of details. There were those in his group, who attributed supernatural attributes to their new Aniki's perceptive nature.

"I would have had you all cut off a piece of your pinky for failing such a simple task but," Anotsu cast a dismissive glance over to Tatsuo. "The reconnaissance team actually found someone interesting."

The men looked at Anotsu with questioning looks. Someone interesting?

"Hibari Kyoya?" The former boss's right hand man, Ishida Taro asked. He was a middle aged man, shirtless and showing off his full body tattoos that had taken years to ink. Even so, his tattoos were yet to be complete.

Anotsu waved a hand. "No, not him. That boy is strong, I admit, but he's not the one I'm talking about. Although he would make a capable subordinate." The rest of the Momokyokai all blanched at the thought of _him_ joining them. They had all ran into the famed demon prefect of Namimori at one time or another in their life as a yakuza and things had not gone too well.

Anotsu saw the expressions on his men's face. He sneered coldly, the livid scar bunching against the side of his cheek. "But from what I've gleaned from my sources, not only does the brat not follow orders well, but he refuses to cooperate with others. He's practically un-useable. It'd be an ongoing power struggle between us."

The glint in his eyes showed that Anotsu wouldn't be giving up his spot as boss of the Momokyokai anytime soon.

He continued. "From what Tatsuo's failed reconnaisance has shown us. The most dangerous of the group is the _girl_."

"The girl? But she's just-" Ishida interjected but was immediately cut off.

"A girl?" Anotsu finished smoothly. Ishida seemed to wither under his gaze. "A girl who just _happened_ to take out over thirteen of my men and break Tatsuo's poor fingers over here. How are they by the way? She broke at least three from your dominant hand, didn't she?"

Tatsuo could only manage a short and clipped nod as the embarrassment came back to him. To be completely at the power of a girl not even half of his age. The _shame_.

"Back to the matters at hand. The Momokyokai will be securing Namimori under our power and for that to happen we've got to get rid of these kids. The Momokyokai is the only yakuza gang residing in Namimori. We're already a laughingstock with you idiots getting trashed by that middle school prefect."

A hand, missing a few joints from its pinky rose into the air shakily. "Yes, what is it?" Anotsu pointed at the hand.

"But, they're just kids. Can't we just give 'em a whack and a warning and then be done with it? I mean, we can always try recruiting them can't we?"

Anotsu shook his head disapprovingly at the naive fuck. "Oi, Kishitani that's too naive. I showed the clip to you all, didn't I?"

They all nodded in the hideout.

Anotsu motioned for one of them to turn on the projector and play the clip. At the sight of the kids, he paused it. He pointed first at Hibari with a pointer one of his men handed to him. "Hibari Kyoya. The tyrant of Namimori. He needs to disappear if we want to establish the Momokyokai's rule." He moved over to Tsuna and his terrified face. "This kid here, he's being trained to become a mafia boss. Those two boys beside him plus the baby are probably his lackeys, especially the gay headed kid- oops I mean gray- who keeps yelling out 'Juudaime.'"

Many of the men laughed.

Anotsu cracked a small grin. It was hilarious. He'd had some run ins with the Italian mob before, and had barely escaped with his life and dignity. That weak little boy with troll like hair and large frightened doe eyes a _mafia_ boss? Impossible. The world of the Italian Mafia would eat him alive and shit out the pieces. He continued.

"He doesn't look it but he's a mafia boss in training." His eyes narrowed as a useless piece of refuse spoke out of turn.

"Haha. Aniki, how can you be so sure? Come on? Him? I've slept with tons of girls looking like that!" Honda was a huge man with small piggish eyes, and a perpetually sneering face. Tattoo's decorated his neck, and disappeared down the collar of his flamboyant silk shirt.

Anotsu pointed next to Mahiro who was nothing but a whirl of braids. "I don't give a shit about your liking for younger girls Honda, or about how much the boy looks like one of your victims. Now this girl here, she clearly stated that the fuzz head was a mafioso in training from the clip. If your greasy ears weren't so filled up with wax you would've heard."

The idiots that he was left with. If Anotsu weren't so worried about gathering enough manpower, men like Honda would be lying in a ditch somewhere, or grounded up into fishcakes. Or maybe, one dark night, Anotsu would just quietly slice the pig from neck to groin and leave him as a lesson to any of the other useless men he had to contend with under his rule.

He liked to remind the group that they were bakuto yakuza, those who specialized in gambling. He knew that many yakuza groups all over Japan had sex rings, drug rings and a great many other specialized trades, but to him, he felt that the sex trade was demeaning, not only to the women, but to the men involved as well.

(Some might call Anotsu a prude, some of these same people end up as fish food.)

It was just that Anotsu had been taught to _respect_ women. They were not the weak creatures that men made them out to be. In many ways, they often proved to be more useful when situations involving more of a diplomatic touch arose. And even though he would concede that women didn't have the brutal strength that would make them true equals, they posessed the calculating nastiness that was essential to surviving in this world. He would know. One of the living examples of them was right in front of him. On screen of course. Mahiro Hisagi was physically a normal preteen girl, and had only the normal strength threshhold of one, but that was not what allowed her to wreak bloody havoc on his men. Brute strength could only do so much without a calculating, ruthless mind behind it. One moment of hesitation would've gotten her torn apart by his men. And she hadn't shown even a hint of it! The other example was probably off somewhere on a murder spree or something like that.

"The one you _really_ need to look out for is her. Hisagi Mahiro. Youngest sibling to Tokyo's new and upcoming police officer, Hisagi Masahiro." He said the name with distaste.

"Aniki, can I have my fun with her?" Honda licked his lips, his beady dark eyes gleaming like the shell of a cockroach.

Anotsu smirked, even though inwardly he was mentally running through this week's schedule, trying to fit in the murder and food processing of Honda Isao between Sunday and Tuesday. "If you want to die, Honda, then go right ahead. The Momokyokai isn't for you to satisfy you lolicon fantasies."

_You filthy cuntscab_. Anotsu added inwardly with a snarl.

The men laughed. Honda glared at their Aniki.

"Here's what's going to happen. After what we've seen, Mahiro won't be hanging around fuzz head or his gang much. She'll most likely be alone. Hibari is, as always, alone too. As for the gang," Anotsu slapped the pointer at the projection of the rest of the people. "It will be easier to dispose of them altogether if we take them out one by one. The ones left will be in a panic and while searching for the others, will be too busy worrying about who is next to act cleverly. Mahiro will be easier to draw out once we've done that. She wouldn't leave them as is. She'll most likely try to save them."

Anotsu turned the projector off and addressed his men. "That'll be all. Hibari is easy. Just attack the school or mess up the town a bit and he'll be on you like white on rice. He's just a rabid dog." He glanced at the gleaming Rolex on his wrist. "I expect this to be done in three days time. Or less if you can handle it." He eyed Tatsuo and Honda while he said it. "Watch out for Mahiro."

With that, Anotsu left the room with his right hand man close behind. He was someone that had come along with Anotsu from Tokyo, back when he was still in the Kokusui-kai. The veteran yakuza of the Momokyokai immediately began giving orders to the others, eager to please.

Tatsuo along with Honda glared hatefully at Anotsu's disappearing back, although Honda more so than the other.

To make fun of him like that. A well known man with a reputation and a former member of one of the Yamaguchi-gumi's affiliate clans. He'd show him. Honda would show that young upstart who should be boss around here. And what better way than with the girl who Anotsu somehow knew?

* * *

"Ne, Tsu-kun! What happened to your arm? Are you alright?" Nana Sawada asked.

Tsuna gave his mom an embarassed smile. "I-It's nothing. I just fell... down the stairs..." he lied.

She nodded. "Oh I see. Tsu-kun be more careful next time alright? Dinner will be ready in an hour so wash up." Nana headed back into the kitchen with Tsuna staring at her back, silently wishing for her to turn around and inquire more about his injuries.

His cheek was swelling up from Mahiro's punch and his left arm was broken. At the hospital he had been given a splint.

No luck though. Nana didn't ask anymore questions and instead started on dinner. Tsuna sighed as he trudged up the steps to his room. He hadn't really expected anything different from his mom though.

He opened the door and exhaled the breath he had been holding in, glad that Reborn was nowhere to be seen. After what happened, Tsuna just wanted to be alone. He knew that Gokudera and Yamamoto were worried about him and that they wanted to make sure that he was alright, but Tsuna just didn't have it in him to talk to anyone.

He flopped down onto his bed, his right arm lying over his forehead. Tsuna had never really gotten mad anyone in his life and when he had, he'd never yelled at them. He hadn't realized how much energy it took to yell at someone, especially if that person didn't seem to give a damn.

Tsuna wasn't even mad at Mahiro anymore. No, right now he just felt sick to his stomach. In fact, Tsuna really had no idea at all why he was mad with Mahiro. That she'd abandoned him maybe? But it wasn't her fault that she had to leave. Her parents had gotten a job transfer and it wasn't like she had a say in it at all.

That she expected so much from him? No. Mahiro was the only one who had really expected anything from a no good person like him. Before Reborn even came along, Mahiro had been the one who encouraged him to fight and become stronger. And what Mahiro had expected wasn't even much. All she'd asked for was a friend who would be strong enough to stand by her side and fight with her when needed. A comrade.

Maybe that was too much for a person like him though. Tsuna was always "No Good" and he sucked at everything, so having those kind of expectations thrusted upon him were just... frustrating. Dame Tsuna who no one ever expected anything from now had expectations to fulfill. A friend. A comrade. Juudaime. Next heir to the powerful mafia family, the Vongola. It was overwhelming.

The throbbing pain in his arm was nothing compared to the hard knot in his stomach. Kansai Voice was awfully quiet and for that Tsuna was glad. At the hospital, Kansai Voice couldn't stop going on about where Tsuna had gone wrong and why Mahiro had broken off their friendship. If Kansai Voice had been corporeal, Tsuna had no doubt that Kansai Voice would be kicking his ass.

Tsuna was glad that tomorrow was the weekend. He didn't think he would be able to face Mahiro so soon. Most likely she would avoid him and just ignore his entire existence along with Reborn and the others.

"OI! DAME TSUNA! Where's Hiro-nee?! Hiro-nee said she was going to come over and play with the amazing Lambo today!" Lambo said obnoxiously, having swung open Tsuna's bedroom door to reveal I-pin standing behind him.

She said something in Chinese which probably translated to, "Hiro-nee promised to teach me a new move!" or something like that.

Tsuna sighed, his body feeling heavy all over again. "Mahiro's not going to be coming over for a while guys.." he tried to break it to them gently.

"Why not?" I-pin seemed to ask.

"Was Dame Tsuna being dame again!?" demanded Lambo. "Go and apologize so that Hiro-nee will come back and play with us!"

Tsuna frowned. How had Lambo easily figured out the reason why Mahiro wouldn't be coming over again?

_Because you're dame, of course._ Kansai Voice was back. _You heard the cow. Go and apologize now and maybe Mahiro'll forgive you._

_It's not that easy._ Tsuna thought. _Mahiro's stubborn. I doubt she'll forgive me even if I begged. __**I**__ was the one who messed up our friendship. We can't just make up immediately like that. We're not kids anymore where the next day we'll just go back to being friends._

"Tsuna!" Lambo whined even louder.

_That's why you should show her that you're not completely useless. _Kansai Voice said.

_How do I do that?_

_How the hell should I know? __**You**__ fucked up. __**You**__ think of something. _

* * *

_Trust me, Hiro. You and me? We're the same. Don't just shake your head at me. Listen to what I'm saying, got it? Good. You and me, Hiro. Come on, admit it. This is fun, ain't it? Look at that face. Doesn't it just make you wanna' break another limb or two?_

Mahiro's fist slammed into the bathroom mirror, shattering the glass and impaling her right hand. "Damn it," she muttered under her breath. She took a pair of tweezers from the cabinet and took out the pieces of glass. After bandaging her hand, she finished cleaning up the sink where she'd dripped blood all over.

_Dammit, and right after I just finished wiping down the mirror too._ Mahiro grimaced to herself, and for herself.

Then she left her apartment and headed to work. Papa would be all over her today with her hands looking the way that they were. Her knuckles were bruised and scratched up from yesterday's scuffle and now her right hand was cut up from punching the mirror.

Mahiro was in a bad mood. The funk from yesterday had carried on over to today and she had just remembered something very unpleasant. The day was _really_ not shaping out to be a good one.

It really didn't help that someone was stalking her either.

She wasn't stupid. Mahiro had known all along that Tsuna and the others had been following her; she just hadn't known _why_. Today's stalker, Mahiro knew, was not Tsuna and the crew or even Reborn. Although as much as Mahiro hated to admit it, _if_ Reborn decided to stalk her, she doubted that she would be able to pick him out. She was good but not _that _good.

On that note, these guys were fucking amateurs.

The people watching her were too close. There were three, no, five watching her. Two in the alleys, one a few blocks back, another up ahead, and the last one a hand's reach away. The streets were busy and filled with people so to any normal person, nothing would've been out of place. Except...

Mahiro wasn't normal. She had an older brother who specialized in information brokering, one who was already a well known investigator, and a sister who'd nearly killed all her ex-boyfriends just by pressing a few pressure points. Her third brother could charm the pants off of any woman, but Mahiro doubted that it could be a skill.

So suffice to say, Mahiro wasn't new to losing tailers. She passed through a clump of laughing highschoolers, stealing one girl's baseball cap, and another's sweater from around her waist. Cool as a cucumber, she slipped the cap over her braids, and the sweater over her shoulders. As the gaggle of highschoolers passed, Mahiro tucked her chin in and stooped her shoulders, rapidly diminishing her size and presence.

The tail passed right by her, craning his head far above the rest of the crowd. Mahiro sucked in a deep breath, and fell back behind him. Her tail was six foot two, male, had close cropped hair, and Mahiro could see that he was limping.

Mahiro grinned. She slipped her bag out from underneath the sweater. The weight cut into her wrist and forarm. She swung it back and forth, letting it gather speed.

Then she ran up to him and swung her bag _hard_ into the back of his knees.

The man crumpled backwards and Mahiro slipped through the crowd again, eyeing the numerous paths she could take. Soon enough she'd lost them through the marketplace and eventually she made it to Papa's Tasty Fritters.

From what Mahiro had seen of them. They were probably the same yakuza guys from yesterday. Mahiro snickered triumphantly, earning her disturbed looks from some early customers. Mahiro didn't care though, ruining someone else's day suddenly made her own that much brighter in comparison. Mahiro smiled sweetly at the customers, and was rewarded by happy smiles of their own.

Whistling happily, Mahiro nodded a hello to a frazzled looking Tomiko, and headed for the backroom. The door closed behind her, and then a thought occured to Mahiro.

_Wait. If they're the guys from yesterday, then I'm probably not the only one they're following_, Mahiro swore. She pivoted on her heel and reached for the handle of the shop's door, ready to head back outside and smash a couple of heads to make sure her friends were alright.

"Ma-chan!" cooed the distinctive voice of Papa. "You're actually here on time!"

Mahiro stopped and realized with sick disgust what she'd just been about to do. She retracted her hand from the door and pasted on a cheery face. "What are you talking about, Papa? I'm always on time!" she chirped.

He squealed like a school girl. "Kyaaa~! Ma-chan's finally called me Papa! Shuhei-kun! Yama-chin! Hurry, grab the camera!"

Papa tried to glomp Mahiro but she ducked under his large and muscly forearms.

"Ahaha. Maybe later, Papa. I've got to get into uniform remember?" With that, she escaped into the women's locker room with Papa staring at her receding back, a strange look upon his face.

Once Mahiro was alone, the smile was wiped off her face.

She was worrying about Tsuna and the others? And just when she'd decided she didn't want to have anything to do them anymore. Mahiro massaged the bridge of her nose, sighing heavily.

_So all right_, Mahiro rationalized. Yamamoto could probably handle himself against a small group of yakuza cronies. And Gokudera _had_ been raised in a mafia family so he should hypothetically know how to hold his own in a fight. Reborn was supposedly the world's best hitman so he'd have no problem handling the Momokyokai. And Tsuna.

_Well,_ she smiled self deprecatingly.

Tsuna had Reborn to take care of him now didn't he? No matter how despicable the means, Tsuna _was_ strong enough now to take care of himself. They all were.

Right?

_Right_?

Oh, who the hell was she trying to fool? No matter how tough they were, they were still just a bunch of kids playing a _fucking_ dangerous game. Reborn was a _baby_ with a _gun_, and Tsuna's luck was so awful that Mahiro wouldn't be suprised if his steroids ran out on him in the worst possible moment.

Like say, a gun fight.

Mahiro made a fist, and pounded her head with a groan. Looks like she had no choice, Tsuna and the rest of those idiots really will die if she didn't go and pull their collective asses out of the fire-

"Hero-kun, are you done yet? Papa wants to hold a meeting," she heard Tomiko call from outside.

Mahiro twitched. Her eye twitched, and her hands balled into fists. Holy fucking hell, she was already talking her _self_ into going to save Tsuna and his merry band of idiots!

"Almost. Be out in a bit," Mahiro responded, grimly yanking off the baseball cap. Now she glared at the Fritter cap. It's plastic, knobbly, fritters seemed to gleam evilly underneath the horrible fluorescent lights.

_Hero, _Mahiro scoffed. She put on the cap, her upper lip curling with disgust.

Right. Mahiro was a fucking hero who went around saving countless innocents from evil madmen. What the fuck was this? A fucking Marvel comic? She wasn't a hero. She wasn't the awesome good guy who showed up when her friends were in need of her. She was just Hiro- as a select few liked to call her- but most importantly, she was Mahiro. _Just_ _Mahiro_. No fucking _Hero_ anywhere in sight. If this were a comic, she'd be the nefarious evil villain who liked to smack people around just for the heck of it.

"Tsuna doesn't need my help. Nor do Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Reborn. They're big boys now. They can take care of themselves," she growled.

She was being arrogant, thinking that everybody needed her help like a god damn super hero/baby sitter. She'd never even dreamed of becoming a super hero as a kid so why start now?

They'd be fine. Afterall, if Mahiro was a nefarious villian who did the things that had to be done, then Tsuna and his merry-_fucking-_band of do-gooders must be the _fucking_ good guys.

And everybody and their dog knows that the good guys _always_ win.

With a heavy sigh, Mahiro slammed her locker shut and put on the finishing touches to the PTF (Papa's Tasty Fritters) uniform; the shitty hat and a smile.

* * *

In his bathroom, Hibari Kyoya splashed water on his face, neck, and chest in descending order. His inky black hair were damp with sweat, his chest was mottled with bruises. Hibari hissed in pain, the cold water stinging his cuts. One calloused, bandaged hand came up to his side. He regarded the purplish, blue bruise that started from under his armpit to just under his rib cage.

He knew exactly which bruises were from her. They were the darkest, the angriest, the ones he had to ice every night and morning.

The bruising covering the shoulder that she'd dislocated in the parking lot, was one of the worst. His personal physician told him that he was very lucky that he was so young. His tendons were still strong and supple, and he'd be able to recover full use of it in a few weeks.

Magnificent. Hibari stared at his reflection in the mirror. His bandaged hand rested directly over his shoulder, recalling the pain and shock of that moment when he'd felt his joint start to separate.

It had been the first time he'd been injured so badly. It had been the first time he'd ever seen his body look like this, like a conquered country, razed down to it's roots.

Hibari inflated his lungs with a breath, savoring the pain in his side. His fists tightened at his sides. He ignored the discomfort, ignored his aches and his pain.

It was all a gift. All of his injuries were like the strike of a hammer in the forge, making him into something better, stronger than before.

In his mind's eye, he could see her. Her tanned skin, her dark almond shaped eyes, and upturned nose. Her light brown hair perpetually bound in braids, and her lips; constantly grinning at him like a Jackal's snarl.

"Hisagi, Mahiro." Hibari leaned in close to the mirror, his eyes blazing with a dark light, unhindered by his one swollen black eye. "I will destroy you."

Reverently he wrapped his ribs and shoulder tightly with clean white gauze. He stepped out of his bathroom to the bedroom, where he headed over to his closet. He picked out a clean white button up longsleeved shirt, a pair of black cotton boxers, and the requisite black pants.

He dressed himself quickly and efficently despite his injuries, and fastened the red arm band on his injured arm. He'd only just slipped the black jacket over his shoulder when his phone started to play the Namimori Middle school's anthem.

Hibari picked up his phone. "What?" He asked, checking the time on his bedroom wall.

"Chairman! This is bad! There are yakuza men everywhere in the school's courtyard!" A shrieking, disembodied voice squealed in his ear. Hibari jerked the reciever away from his ear, scowling.

"Slow down. Yakuza?" Hibari growled, already heading out of his bedroom. He grabbed a random pair of tonfas off the weapons rack he had installed in his hallway.

"Y-yes! Yakuza! They're beating up all the disciplinary members!"

Hibari sneered. "I'm on my way, if you are all defeated by the time I get there, I will bite all of you to death along with those yakuza scum!"

"Y-yes Chairman!" Hibari ended the call. His scowl was as black as night.

"Useless herbivores." His hopped on his motorcycle.

At the school, Saotome was hiding under his desk and cussing the air blue. "I'm not getting paid enough for this!" The teacher pulled his cell phone, and started to dial the area code for Tokyo.

"You've reached the desk of Inspector Maeda, leave a message."

"Maeda-san!" Saotome shrieked. "I'm calling in my debt! Please! Come to Namimori-chu and deal with the ruffians here!"

There was a sharp click from the other line. "If I come over there, only to find some snot nosed punks, I will not be happy Saotome."

From outside, came the sound of breaking glass. "Please come quickly!" Saotome whimpered.

* * *

Tsuna was walking between both Yamamoto and Gokudera. Tsuna still wasn't up to talking with his friends but he figured that he'd have enough time of reflecting and being depressed. Besides, he didn't want to worry his friends anymore. They were just as important as Mahiro was.

"J-Juudaime," Gokudera started. "I'll make that woman apologize to you."

"Huh?" Tsuna asked, surprised before waving his hands frantically. "No, it's okay, Gokudera! Really. It's not Mahiro's fault."

Kansai Voice added. _Besides, if that idiot tries to do that, Mahiro'll put him in the hospital. Or worse. Kill 'im._

"But! Juudaime!" Gokudera protested. He didn't like seeing his boss look so depressed. As the right hand man, he should do something to cheer his boss up, but how, Gokudera had no idea.

Yamamoto, who had been awfully quiet, slung an arm over Tsuna's shoulder. "Ne, cheer up Tsuna. I'm sure you and Mahiro'll make up soon enough. We're all friends here, right?" He finished with a smile.

"R-right," Tsuna answered, forcing a smile onto his face so that his friends wouldn't worry. Even with Yamamoto's optimism, Tsuna doubted that it would happen anytime soon. Tsuna had betrayed Mahiro's beliefs.

Tsuna had to agree with her though, using the Dying Will Bullet in fights where the opponents were serious was disrespectful to them and also cheap. It wasn't fair.

It was like when Ryohei had wanted to have a boxing match against him. Tsuna had refused to fight him using the DWB because he didn't want Kyoko to hate him. But also because it wouldn't have been fair to Ryohei. Only after Reborn had shot them both with the DWB, had Tsuna actually fought against Ryohei, although that was under the influence of the bullet.

Mahiro who always fought with her own strength and no one else's, must of had found that as despicable as bullies that ganged up on a helpless kid. Lost in his thoughts, Tsuna didn't realize that Yamamoto and Gokudera had stopped walking until Yamamoto grabbed the collar of Tsuna's shirt, stopping him from walking into the yakuza's hands.

Tsuna blinked. They were surrounded. Unlike yesterday where there had been about only twenty four men, the amount today tripled it. The yakuza had them trapped from all sides. Yamamoto and Gokudera tensed up, moving up ahead of Tsuna to form some kind of protective shield.

"Get back Tsuna, we'll handle this," Yamamoto said, drawing his bat. Gokudera took on a battle stance, his dynamites already out and ready to be ignited.

"Juudaime, don't worry. I'll protect you!" he said.

Tsuna gulped, wondering where Reborn was at the moment. He hadn't seen him at all. Tsuna was glad that Reborn was giving him space but he couldn't help wondering what the baby hitman was doing when not terrorizing his charge.

_Damn it. We need Reborn! We can't handle all these guys alone! Yamamoto and Gokudera'll get hurt if nothing's done!_

_Wow._

Tsuna closed his eyes, his face dark with annoyance. _What?_ He groaned.

_Oh, nothing. _Kansai Voice began to whistle innocently. It's just~

_What the hell do you want?_ Tsuna sucked in his breath with a sharp clack. Gokudera looked worried. But the yakuza surrounding him proved a stronger draw to his attention than Juudaime's depression.

Gokudera flicked his thumbs nervously over the tips of the fuses he was holding. His green eyes were dilated with fear. These men looked like they were ready to start tearing them up, and his Juudaime was deep in his own thoughts. Of course Gokudera was feeling nervous.

"Hey, Gokudera," Gokudera felt the baseball idiot elbow him in his back.

Gokudera didn't take his eyes off the huge bastard eyeing his Juudaime like he wanted to make barbecue out of him, "What?"

Yamamoto felt a cold drop of sweat roll down his back, he smiled nonetheless. "Ahahaha, man, these guys look like they want to play baseball."

Gokudera groaned, but a smile flashed over his face. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, just look at them," Yamamoto continued to chatter cheerfully. "They all brought their own bats!"

"With _nails_ hammered in at the ends! What the hell type of bats are those!?" Gokudera swore loudly.

"Ahaha." Yamamoto laughed.

Meanwhile, Tsuna continued to argue with his own thoughts. _Well?_

_Well I'm just sayin', you really want that so called "Hitman Tutor" of yours to come back and shoot you with one of those Dying Will Bullets so that you can take down these punks?_ said Kansai Voice. _You really are a dumbass, Tsuna. _

_What?! But if I do nothing, everyone'll get hurt! _Tsuna could see the leers the yakuza sent his way. Some were even pointing at him and snickering.

_This is why Mahiro beat the crap out of you. You're just some parasitic little douche who can't do shit on his own. You're just one big cockgobbler, Tsuna._

_You're being unnecessarily rude again. _Tsuna scowled, his fists balling at his sides.

_Put em' up. _Kansai Voice snapped quickly, _Put em' up, and don't tuck in your thumbs you idjit! _

"Why aren't they attacking?" Gokudera said quietly, with his dynamite tucked along his knuckles.

Tsuna looked up, his one free hand forming a fist. "Oh, why _aren_'_t_ they attacking?"

_Thumbs out dumbass!_

_Oops. _He fumbled, trying to make the proper fist Mahiro had shown 's fingers felt awful clumsy. It was as if his fingers were Dame too, they kept tangling the wrong way.

His middle finger shot up, saluting the entire mob.

Aw, fuck.

Gokudera looked over, his pretty boy face paling with shock and awe at his Juudaime's gumption. Yamamoto burst into laughter.

_Aw fuck indeed, Tsuna, _Kansai Voice muttered darkly. _Fuck indeed. _

* * *

**Key Terms:**

The following groups mentioned are legit yakuza organizations.

***Kokusui-kai: **A Tokyo based yakuza organization that is wealthy and successful, controlling Tokyo's Ginza district. They have only about 500 members and they have a pretty low membership. On August of 2005, the Kokusui-kai which had been apart of the Kanto Hatsukakai, a federation made up of Tokyo yakuza gangs against the larger and more powerful Kansai based yakuza, the Yamaguchi-gumi, withdrew from the alliance with the Kanto gangs to join with the Yamaguchi-gumi and become an affiliate of theirs. The Oyabun/ Godfather of the Kokusui-kai was Kazuyoshi Kudo, until he committed suicide in February of 2007.**  
**

****Yamaguchi-gumi: **One of the largest criminal organizations in the world, the Yamaguchi-gumi is Japan's largest yakuza organization. Their headquarters are located in Kobe, Japan but they operate over seas in Asia and even in the United States. (More info on Wiki).**  
**

*****Sumiyoshi-kai: **Another Tokyo based gang. After the Kokusui-kai joined up with the Yamaguchi-gumi, they eventually become enemies with the Kokusui-kai. It is the second most largest yakuza organization located in Japan and they have a slightly different hierarchy then the Yamaguchi-gumi. They are also enemies with the Yamaguchi-gumi. (More info on Wiki).**  
**

**A/N: Did Tsuna just flip off a bunch of yakuzas? Yes, he did. What's going to happen to him? I don't know, you'll find out when Chapter 8 is out!  
**

**I've mentioned some pretty big and important yakuza groups but I won't actually focus on them much. The whole story of Katekyo Hitman Reborn is all about the Italian mafia, so we'll focus on the Italian mafia. Then why am I bringing up big yakuza groups and the Momokyokai, you ask? That's because I find it unbelievable how with Tsuna as the next mafia boss to a big Italian mafia family, the Japanese mafia, the Yakuza, aren't doing anything about it. I mean they were all about "Out with the foreigners" way back when so wouldn't they be trying to kick out these rivals for territory?**_  
_

**This is JAPAN where the story is taking place, so it's only plausible that the yakuza would get involved. The Momokyokai showed up in that one episode but they got their asses beat so easily.  
**

**I made Hibari kind of... masochistic there. XD Oh well.  
**

**I've realized I've created a lot of OCs. A LOT. But most of them are minor characters so it's alright. Right? RIGHT?  
**

**Please review. Constructive criticism is welcome. SERIOUSLY. I feel as if my writing's become bland. GRRR. I need to read some books. Any recommendations? The last book I read was the Scarlet Letter... I think?  
**


	8. I'm sorry you're a fatass

**********Disclaimer: KHR belongs to Amano Akira. Mahiro, the Hisagi family, Papa's Tasty Fritters, and Anotsu Takatori belong to sky of c-o-l-o-r-s**

**A/N: Da Da Dum! Chapter 8 is finally out! Truthfully, Chapter 8 is 42,896 words long but I split it in half. That half is going to be Chapter 9 and it'll be out sometime during this week or next week, but I'm not making any promises. It's really hard to update my fanfics with school going on now. Currently I have three written responses that need to be done for English for Thursday but I'm like, "Whatever." I really hate my English teacher this year. :C**

**Don't skip homework! It's bad, but I always do better on it last minute. :P  
**

**Has been BETA-ed by my sis. She's really into this story, so much that she'll kick me off the laptop to add stuff to it.  
**

**Quick References  
**

******Momokyokai yakuza:** Anotsu Takatori (Boss/ Aniki; has some hate against Masahiro(?) and knows Mahiro(?)), Tatsuo Ishinori (Guy who got his fingers broken by Mahiro in Ch. 6), Honda Isao (Creepy fat dude who is a lolicon), everyone else mentioned with names are not important. Most likely they will die. LOL. :D OH, But there's another SOC (Supporting original character- I made this up, okay?). Remember how I mentioned that Anotsu had a right hand man?

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Far away across town, there sat a toddler in a tree. But the strangest part was, that the toddler was completely covered in leaves. From the brim of his hat, to even the soles of his tiny booted feet; the camouflage was flawless, even the laptop he had balanced on top of his knees had a green pattern on it. But this was all a matter of course for the _greatest_ hit man in the entire world.

The greatest hit man in the entire world turned pale beneath his leafy foliage.

Reborn stopped typing, sat back against the tree and just stared at the profile he'd pulled up on all of Mahiro Hisagi's family. If he was the type of personality to desert his obligations, Reborn mused to himself. If he _was_ that type of man (the term is used loosely here), he would just quietly terminate his contract now, and take the next flight out of Japan in the morning. _Because this was..._

The toddler rustled as he wiped away the sweat beading on top of his upper lip. Reborn, despite being a glorified killer in the employ of one of the most powerful crime families in Italy, was a consummate gentleman. So he never dropped the f-bombs that Mahiro and Gokudera in their youthful furies used with little to no discretion. He'd never before really found himself in circumstances where he needed to use them after all. But _this_... Reborn's beady black eyes closed and he quietly mouthed the words to himself.

_Fuck_.

Reborn, if he was in his older body, would've struck a match and indulged in a quick smoke to calm his nerves. In fact, he might just chance stunting his growth for a quick puff. After all, he _had_ just drawn the attentions of _the_ lone assassin that had single-handedly terrorized the entirety of Asia, and separate pockets of Europe. It was a good argument to have a smoke if he had ever heard one.

Reborn forced himself to review what his sources had gathered for him, and although they were mostly second-hand accounts, newspaper clippings, and even gossip gathered from the front steps of old assassins and bodyguards, Reborn knew that they all held one unequivocal truth. That Kiyomi Hisagi, a.k.a The Cassowary was not one to be trifled with.

Yet Reborn had pulled her youngest daughter right into the war to become the tenth. Reborn knew her legends; they were stories to curdle even the fiercest tyrant's blood. Never mind what she'd actually done to those that stood in her way.

But truly? Cassowary, freelance hit-women who wasn't part of any mafia family was now married and had kids? It was almost as unbelievable as Tsuna abandoning his famiglia. Cassowary from all accounts, was a vicious and lethal assassin who would just as likely gut you than fuck you.

And now that woman had a daughter who was childhood friends with the tenth generation Vongola boss. Reborn wasn't stupid. He didn't believe in coincidences. Mahiro and Tsuna growing up together and becoming best friends. Mahiro moving away to Tokyo because of her parents' "Job transfers." Mahiro's arrival. The Momokyokai. And the attack on the information brokers in Italy. Things like this could not all be coincidences. More likely than not, this probably had something to do with Cassowary.

But why would she involve her own daughter? There wasn't any animosity between Cassowary and the Vongola, the Vongola had even hired her services once, so what exactly could she be planning? Reborn didn't know how all those events connected with each other. He did know, however, that he was going to _exploit_ it.

Reborn's beady black eyes glinted in a weird trick of the light filtering through the tree branches. _If_ the Cassowary was arrogant enough to employ her own freakishly talented daughter in her schemes, Reborn mentally rubbed his hands together in anticipation, then Reborn would be sure to take this chance to manipulate Mahiro forever into the Famiglia.

She was just too clever, street savvy, and ruthless to allow her out of their grasp. She had seen immediately the weaknesses in Tsuna and his training program. Reborn could admit to himself now that he had been lackadaisical in his mentoring of Tsuna. Using the Dying Will bullets as a teaching aid had worked spectacularly for Dino, but whereas Dino had eventually started to find his own strength in his men and himself, Tsuna had started to show all the worrying signs of dependency on them.

_That_ had been a red flag, especially because in the mafia battles that were to come, Reborn could not physically aid Tsuna as he was doing now. But he could not just _stop_ using them on Tsuna. It was as Mahiro had said, Tsuna was weak. He was pathetic, but the bullets were the only way to trigger Tsuna's dying will flames. And until Tsuna learned how to summon the flames himself, Reborn would have to keep activating it with the DWB. Reborn was sorrowful that the weak willed Tsuna had lost the respect of one of his most impressive subordinates, but Reborn had complete confidence in his ability to coerce her back into the fold.

_Anything_ for the Vongola family.

On that note, Reborn had better check on his hapless pupil.

A window popped open on his desktop, photos of Tsuna, Yamamoto, and Gokudera surrounded by yakuza. It was a good thing that Reborn had bugged and set up many surveillance cameras around Namimori. He scanned through more pictures that had been sent to his laptop. The Momokyokai _had_ attacked Namimori-chu but Hibari had taken care of it already. From the pictures, Reborn figured that Hibari was probably heading towards the headquarters. With Hibari there, Tsuna and the others would be fine.

Reborn thought for a moment, idly chewing on a leaf and amended his earlier statement silently.

That was _if_ the boss of the Momokyokai was the same one that Yamamoto and Gokudera had dealt with, which Reborn highly doubted. They moved around too slyly for Reborn's taste. They seemed organized and somewhat disciplined, unlike the earlier members they had encountered.

Reborn sighed inwardly and flipped open his phone, dialing the number to the Chiavarone boss. With all the commotion going on about Mahiro and Tsuna's falling out, Reborn had completely overlooked the newcomers to Namimori. All of this peace was dangerous to his guard. Reborn had been enjoying himself too much in the body of an infant. He could finally wear all those random camouflage outfits and not even have to worry about looking too silly because he was, after all, a baby.

The phone rang once before it was snatched up loudly from the other end.

"H-hey Reborn! What can I do for you?" Dino asked, stuttering a bit. It wasn't every day that Dino received a call from his ex-tutor.

"Dino," Reborn said, absently noting how Tsuna and his subordinates were being dragged away unconscious and bloody into shiny black cars. "The Momokyokai has kidnapped Tsuna and his friends."

"Tsuna and his friends?" Dino exclaimed. He felt as if it was his entire fault. Well, it practically was since he had wanted to test out his lil' bro's subordinates to see just how good they were. How could he have known that the Momokyokai actually existed? "Should I send some men over or do you have it under control Reborn?"

Reborn paused for a moment. He was about ninety percent sure that he would have no problem resolving the matter, but the new boss of the Momokyokai had yet to be confirmed. He figured it was better to be safe than sorry. You didn't survive in this business by rushing into things.

"Ten men are enough," Reborn answered, before promptly snapping the phone shut. He still needed to find the location of the headquarters; most likely it had been changed with the new boss. Besides, there was someone he needed to pay a visit to.

* * *

Dino heard the tell-tale click that signaled that Reborn had hung up. Dino ran his hand through his hair anxiously. It was lucky that he had decided to stay in Japan for a little while longer. Really, this was his entire fault. He had to go help his little brother and his friends.

"What did Reborn want?" Romario asked, calmly stacking up the paperwork on Dino's desk.

"Tsuna's been kidnapped by the local yakuza. Gather ten of our best men. We're heading to Namimori."

"Yes sir." Romario proceeded to round up the ten that Reborn requested for.

Dino sighed heavily. He hoped Tsuna and his friends would be alright.

* * *

Mahiro's fingers tapped against the table impatiently, her eyes glued to the door. It'd been about two hours since her shift had started and the bad feeling she had gotten in her gut had worsened. The smile she had pasted on made her facial muscles ache and she couldn't stop wondering about what had happened to Tsuna, Yamamoto, and Gokudera. Knowing them, they'd probably be off somewhere destroying public property.

That is, if they had managed to fight off the Yakuza goons.

"Ma-chan, if you're so worried why don't you go?" A heavy palm settled on her shoulder.

Mahiro whipped up to see Papa's sparkle-y face. Her eyes narrowed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He shook his head disapprovingly. "Ma-chan, you're not this kind of person. If someone's in trouble, you can't abandon them."

"But no one _is_ in tr-" Mahiro tried to argue.

"Especially a friend," he added.

Mahiro wilted almost immediately. Friends. Right, they were friends. Tsuna and her. _Friends_. "I-..." _Shit. But was Tsuna even her friend anymore after what she'd pulled? _Mahiro slapped herself with both hands. "Okay." She said grimly.

"Okay what, Ma-chan?" Papa said with a twinkle in his eye. The fourteen year old girl sneered up at her boss, sweat and toil a shiny coat on her face.

"Well, like you said," Mahiro tugged off the fritter cap with an impatient huff. "I'm just not the kind of person to abandon someone."

And just because Tsuna might hate her guts now, doesn't mean that he had stopped being her friend.

"Sorry Papa," Mahiro nodded resignedly, "I'll understand if you dock my pay for stepping out early-"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" Papa tittered like an affronted hen. He slapped her shoulder, sending her crashing into Shuhei. Shuhei, who was busy counting back change for an oblivious customer, slammed into the cash register.

"You go right ahead and go rescue your friends; Shuhei here can handle the lunch crowd." Papa grabbed her by the back of her neck, and lifted her off of the bleeding, insensate, teenage boy.

Shuhei coughed, blood flecking his lips. "My... Ribs... Broken..." He managed an accusing glare, before his eyes rolled back into his head.

Mahiro grimaced, and said dryly. "I rather doubt he's even able to count to three right now, Papa."

Jimmy Yamazaki walked in from the back room and casually kicked Shuhei in the side. Shuhei caught it, and even though he was supposedly unconscious, began to gnaw on Jimmy's foot.

Jimmy's eyes bulged and a vein started to bulge impressively beneath his eye. "Let go you cannibalistic bastard!" He roared, and began to kick Shuhei in the head.

"You see Ma-chan?" Papa crooned happily while ushering her towards the back room. He ignored the shouts and crashes from up front. "Shuhei will be perfectly fine."

"Uh-_huh_." Mahiro grunted skeptically, she could hear Tomiko joining the fray behind her.

"What the hell do you two think you're doing!? You're going to scare away all the customers!"

"I'm gonna rip out your wisdom teeth, you damned *****!" Roared Jimmy.

"I'm hungry..." moaned Shuhei.

"Kufufu, if you don't return to our store, I shall curse you and thine descendants."

Mahiro shuddered, and hastened her steps. She went to her private locker and began to pull out her regular clothes from inside her backpack. Anything was better than sticking around with these freaks, and that crazy, possessed cap.

_How the hell did Papa even know that someone was in trouble? Fritter senses? _Mahiro thought.

* * *

Hibari swung his tonfas and blocked the crowbars slamming down onto him from above. He kicked forward at the same time, sending the full grown man flying across the room.

"Damn herbivores," Hibari laughed coldly, "Stop crowding around me."

"Get him." A hard faced yakuza growled. "We're gonna teach you a lesson you won't soon forget kid."

Hibari just chuckled. "Wao." He flipped the tonfa around his forearm and beckoned the angry men forward. "Come then, and I shall bite you all to death."

The heavy handles of his tonfas hooked in the armpit of the first reckless charger, and Hibari struck him twice with the front head of his tonfa. Whipping his wrist, Hibari sent the back end cracking alongside the edge of his opponent's jaw. The man slumped with a groan, and Hibari brought his tonfa back up to block the knife strike from above with the blade of the weapon.

The yakuza strained to break past his guard, but the boy sent him crashing onto his behind with a large purpling welt alongside his jaw.

Hibari fought back a yawn. This was... How do those American's say it; Boring. That's right, this was providing little to no challenge for him. These men were about as much of a threat to him as dental floss.

Unlike that herbivore woman, now _there_ was a fighter to get the blood pumping.

On that note, it was time to finish this farce.

"Where is your hide out?" Hibari asked.

"We'll never tell you!"

Hibari sighed. "Never mind, I'm sure that I'll be able to find it."

"Curse you!"

Hibari absently clubbed him over the head, and let the last yakuza lie where he fell. It really was time for him to clean out Namimori-chu once and for all. They were getting to be a real nuisance to his peace and order.

And after Hibari finished off the Yakuza stragglers, he would finally teach that _woman_ her place in his world... Beneath _him_.

Hibari smiled.

* * *

Mahiro sneezed. Idly rubbing her nose, the fourteen year old girl continued to walk leisurely down the street. About half a block ago, Mahiro had realized that she had no fucking idea _where_ Tsuna and Co. _were _and had stopped running_._ She would've called Tsuna if he was answering his cell phone.

So for the fifth time in the last twenty minutes, Mahiro whipped out her cell phone and texted Tsuna. This text was just another variation of the first few texts she'd sent him since she'd ran out of Papa's Tasty Fritters. They all went along the lines of 'pick up the phone dumb ass, you're in danger'. This one said;

_Tsuna, where r u_? And, _I'm sorry._

Mahiro had had to suck back a lot of her pride to write that. But then she'd once taken on a rabid cat to stop it from ripping out Tsuna's little throat. She supposed that apologizing for hurting his feelings wasn't such a big deal.

"Come on Tsuna," Mahiro muttered. Apologizing was always the last resort in getting Tsuna to forgive her. The reason why being that it always worked. Tsuna was too bighearted to do anything else, and so if he didn't reply then something was seriously wrong.

Ten minutes passed and Mahiro found herself hoping that Tsuna had just finally grown a pair, and that nothing _was_ seriously wrong. Mahiro dialed his number again, and pressed the phone to her ear.

_Please Tsuna... _Mahiro heard footsteps approaching from behind. But they were the sort of carelessly loud footsteps made only by someone who wanted them to be heard. Like say... a certain creepy baby.

"Mahiro."

_I really hope someone picks up that phone,_ Mahiro thought to herself with a bland chuckle. _Because I fucking _called_ it_!

Mahiro hung up the phone and turned to face the tiny hit man toddler. His black bowler hat concealed his expression as usual, and his shadow casted over her like he was a much taller man. Mahiro tucked her cellphone away, her dark eyes wary, her _ex_pression weary. "You know what's going on don't you?" She asked grimly.

Reborn nodded solemnly, his beady black eyes regarding her with an inscrutable expression on his round little face. And then he said suddenly, "Do you know what a hindrance you are to my tutoring, Mahiro Hisagi?"

Mahiro rocked back on her heels. She hooked her thumbs comfortably in the loops of her jeans and grinned humorlessly down at him. "I've gotta tell you that I could care less how you feel about your next _fart_, you freaky baby you."

"You show me so little respect." Reborn continued on as if she had never spoken. "That is not the way of the Omerta."

The fourteen year old girl scratched her head, "Ah, correct me if I'm wrong, but I could've sworn I told you and your little mafia games to fuck off."

_Click._

Mahiro stared down the green barrel of Leon. Her humorless smile got a little bit more curled along the edges. Reborn noticed this, and his beady eyes narrowed. "Truly, but you are every inch a monster." He said conversationally. "Monsters like you need to be tamed if you expect to join the Vongola."

"You must really like hearing me repeat myself," Mahiro said with exaggerated surprise. "I told you to fuck off with that, all I really want right now is for you to tell me where the hell Tsuna is."

"If you truly do not wish to involve yourself with the Vongola, then you need not involve yourself with Tsuna either, Mahiro." Reborn said reasonably. Leon remained steadily centered on her chest.

Mahiro ground her back teeth with frustration. "Yeah, about that. Sorry baby, but I'm not happy with that line of reasoning."

Reborn's eyebrow twitched. "No?"

Mahiro sneered. "No."

A chilly wind blew from behind Reborn, nearly dislodging his hat. His finger tightened on Leon's trigger, and he sighted the muzzle onto her forehead. Softly Reborn said, "I could kill you, you know. And I'll be able to get away with it, children go missing all the time in Japan."

Mahiro stared down the muzzle. She could see it, see that he meant every word. And Mahiro couldn't fault his reasoning. She'd probably do the same if she was in his position. If she had to build up a mafia and there was this violent, foul mouthed little bitch challenging her position, she'd kill her. Just, kill her. That or she'd try to rein her in, turn her into a proper obedient dog. And that was what this cheerful little conversation was about. Reborn wanted to, how did he put it? _Tame_ her.

And to do that, he was giving her two choices, either she ignored Tsuna's shit bad luck and returned to her life as a normal girl. Or she agreed to serve whatever convoluted code of conduct Reborn shat out, and she'd be able to remain his friend. Mahiro felt a cold chill settle in her insides. Just like how she could see Reborn's seriousness in putting her in an unmarked grave if she continued to flout his command, she could also see the grim, dirty, truth of what she'd become once she gave up any part of her inner sense of right and wrong. She'd made enough concessions concerning her promise with her mother, if she were to join an organization where she'd be actively encouraged to feed her need to hurt people, she'd turn into something that there was no coming back from...

_Mahiro felt her scabby knees threaten to buckle as the older girl stepped out of the alley. Mahiro could smell the blood from here. She could see the look in her eyes from here. _

"_You killed them." Mahiro couldn't believe how level her voice was. She was scared shit less right now. "Anego..!"_

_Anego laughed."What's the problem?" Her bloody hand slapped affectionately at Mahiro's dirty and torn t-shirt. "A-aa, look at you. You really let them get the better of you huh?"_

_Mahiro jerked away, her hands trembling at her sides. "You killed them. Don't you feel anything?" She demanded. _

_Anego stopped brushing her t-shirt free of dirt and gravel and just stared at her with a thoughtful expression. "You and me, Hiro. We're the same." She said slowly, "I really don't see the problem in killing scum, so you ought not to either, eh?"_

Mahiro could still remember the rest of the afternoon of that day; the strangest part was how normally she'd acted. As if she routinely watched gangsters get bludgeoned to death in dirty alleys every other day. Mahiro thought on that memory now, and she realized with a bitter chuckle that she could almost understand her Anego now. How violence can become as familiar and as second nature as breathing. She could understand that now. She was _struggling _with that _now_.

_It's hard choosing when _not _to fall back on old habits_, Mahiro thought to herself. She closed her eyes in resignation and then went down on one knee."You're a hard man Reborn." Mahiro sighed. All the while she told herself that she really had no choice, she couldn't hit her way out of this. Tsuna _needed _her_, _between the two choices she_..._ And then she thought, _wait, _two _choices?_

Reborn allowed himself a small smile of triumph. _That had been surprisingly easy_, he thought to himself. And then he thought, _this was the beginning of Tsuna's rise to power_. With someone as capable as Mahiro backing him up, Reborn knew that Tsuna's path as the tenth had just become a whole lot simpler. But Reborn kept Leon pointed at Mahiro's head just in case.

"So, what is your decision Mahiro Hisagi?" Reborn asked squeakily.

The girl bowed her head, "I've decided." She said softly.

"Yes?"

Her hand whipped up and grabbed Leon's barrel. Reborn's finger tightened on the trigger. He could feel Leon protesting the strange hand on his body.

The hit man snarled silently at Mahiro, "Do you have a death wish, Mahiro?"

"A-aa," Mahiro laughed to herself. "I wonder that too. Hanging around Tsuna has never caused me anything else but trouble. And god knows I hate his prissy attitude sometimes, but do you know what? I thought that you'd given me only two choices if I wanted to continue being Tsuna's friend. You had me buying into my own bullshit issues about Tsuna and your creepy little games with him."

On her face, her eyes burned with a terrible light. Her teeth were abnormally white in her tanned face while she bit off each word. Reborn would have shot her in the face if it wasn't for the fact that she could've very easily torn away Leon earlier and had chosen not to. And also, Reborn wanted to hear what this crazy girl had to say for herself.

She did not disappoint. "But then I realized something,Tsuna can be a mafia boss, someone else's bitch, hell, _your_ bitch for all it matters. All this shit about Omerta, Vongola's, kidnapping, steroids, none of this change the fact that he's still my friend. I'll go on ahead and keep on saving him without swearing any allegiance to the mafia or to a normal life. And if and when these two sides start bleeding onto each other, I'll just beat em' back without making any compromises. I never had only the two choices you gave me, hell, the only two choices _I_ gave myself. I always had a third choice, and that's for me to keep doing whatever the fuck I want to."

Reborn's expression was a mixture between anger and amusement. "What is wrong with you?" He demanded, kicking her in the chest. Mahiro let go of Leon, her eyes still burning fiercely in her face. Reborn brought up Leon again, aiming at her face.

"You ought not to make promises that you have no chance in hell of keeping Mahiro." His chest pumped up and down, something about this girl's guts_ really annoyed him._

Mahiro got off her knee and brushed herself off. Her eyes, burning with weary conviction never wavered from Reborn's face. "I'll keep my promises if I have to die to follow them through." She broke out into a wide, sheepish grin. "Although it'll take some kissing up to my mom for her to completely forgive me."

Reborn leveled his gun at her. "I ought to shoot you right now."

"Do it." Mahiro laughed, "And watch Tsuna turn away from you. Your hold on him is nowhere near strong enough for him to forgive you for killing one of his friends." Mahiro saw that point register with him. Reborn stared up at her with his beady black eyes. She saw the cold fury on his toddler face.

"I could hide your body." He said.

Mahiro shrugged, "It still won't change the fact that I'd already sent a text apologizing to his soft hearted ass. If I suddenly disappear after that, it'll only take a while for Tsuna to start to suspect your part in my death."

Reborn's eye muscle twitched. "You are the only fourteen year old girl I know," He said, slowly dropping Leon to his side. "Who'd calmly talk about her own murder and death with a hit man."

Mahiro gave the toddler her patented shit eating grin. "Aw, are you hitting on me?"

Within one second, Reborn had Leon up and shooting just askance of her head. A thick hunk of her brown hair drifted sadly down to the ground. Mahiro eyed it, her eyebrows arched in surprise. "Are you going to tell me where Tsuna is or not?"

With a barely audible chuff of exasperation, Reborn turned and tucked Leon the chameleon into the brim of his hat. "Since you insist on straddling both worlds in your independence, you can find that out on your own."

_What?_ "Are you kidding me?" Mahiro said flatly, "Tsuna and his merry band of idiots might just be having their collective butts raped right now."

Reborn tipped his brim over his eyes, "Well, you had better hurry then, Mahiro Hisagi." Then, just because he could, Reborn tossed down a ninja smoke bomb. Black, billowing smoke choked Mahiro, and she waved away the smoke with her hand.

"Da fuck?" Mahiro blinked the tears out of her eyes. For a moment there she'd really expected him to kill her. When she could see again she realized that Reborn had disappeared. "Damn baby," she growled, before shoving her hands into her pockets and starting her search for the yakuza hideout.

One thing she'd learned back in Tokyo was that the Yakuza and many dirty business's took place in the roughest part of town. Namimori though, barely had any thanks to Hibari's strict reign, so Mahiro figured the abandoned part of town was good enough. She had to start somewhere didn't she?

Five minutes later after running around Namimori, Mahiro began hearing "Hiiieeees." For a moment she thought that it was Tsuna, but then she quickly corrected herself. The pitch was different and didn't have the same shrillness as Tsuna. Sure enough, the owner of the voice appeared, being chased by several men in black suits.

Four to be exact.

The screamer was a small auburn haired boy about her age. He wore big framed glasses, the thick coke bottle lenses magnifying the desperation and fear in his eyes. Mahiro slowed her pace. _Hmm_, s_hould I... Or should I not? _Mahiro deliberated silently.

"H-Help me, please!" the boy huffed.

_Aw, shucks_, Mahiro grinned. _Why not?_ Her eyes shone like obsidian stones in anticipation. She saw how the boy stiffened with her smile. She probably had that feral look on her face again. She rolled her shoulders, one arm reaching out to pull the boy towards her and then behind her.

"Stay out of the way kid." Mahiro warned. The scatter of gravel and retreating steps were her only answer. Mahiro was pleased, now there was a kid with enough brains to realize a dangerous place to be.

The men in suits approached, up close Mahiro could see their rough, brutal faces, and in some cases, scarred eyebrows and hands. Mahiro sniffed, yep, they all had that familiar stench of petty violence that she'd come to associate with bottom feeder Yakuza. _Well, well_. Her hand whipped out and sunk into the first man's stomach while she ducked the second man's right hook and swiftly executed a kick at the man's knee from the side. The knee bent sideways, making a loud popping sound. He collapsed to the ground immediately, howling in pain.

"H-Hey! Kida, that's the girl from the clip!" one of the men called out.

"No shit!? Well, come one and help me put her down. We can't let Honda get all the credit. He's got the brats so we'll get the girl." Another replied.

Mahiro cocked her head to the side, her grin widening at the second. _Bingo_. She kicked the man she punched earlier in the gut, making him sank back down into the ground. "So tell me," she began, not at all paying any attention to the trembling boy behind her. "What was that about a clip and some brats?"

Two men left, she mentally tallied. She better hurry before anything too dangerous happened to Tsuna and the others.

_Although, maybe_ _Reborn's there already. _She growled at the thought. She wouldn't be surprised if he _had_ rushed there after trying to press her into the family. Stupid Reborn. Well, it didn't matter if he was already there or not, Mahiro was still going just to kick some asses. That'll teach 'em to not mess with her or her friends.

"Well?" she asked again.

"Shut up you bitch. I'll make sure to have fun with your body once I'm done killi-" the speaker hit the pavement with a loud thud, eyes rolling back into his skull.

Mahiro smiled at the last man, bringing her leg back down. "So are you going to tell me or not?"

"F-Fuck you!" he shrieked, whipping out a G17 glock. Or at least that was the model that Mahiro thought it was. She wasn't as familiar with guns as Masa was but it looked about the same as the one that Masa got to carry around. They were pretty reliable guns and didn't weigh much. From this range Mahiro knew that she was dead-

_But_ he fumbled on flipping the safety off the gun. Mahiro'd already struck, finishing him off like the last guy. He fell forward, gun falling out of his hands and into Mahiro's own. It was a G17, just as she had first thought. A weak voice broke her out of her thoughts, reminding her that she had a purpose.

"Wh-what did you do to them? They're not dead are they?" the boy she'd saved asked, his eyes were wide and slightly apprehensive.

Mahiro shook her head, a small smile touching her lips. It'd been a while since she'd last seen anyone afraid of her since moving to Namimori. Tsuna didn't count since he was pretty much used to it. Yamamoto, Haru, and Kyoko were too oblivious. Gokudera was too absorbed with his complex. Reborn wanted to use her. Hibari wanted to fight her. And everyone at Papa's Tasty Fritters was all off their rocker, except Tomiko of course. She was the only sane one there.

She tapped her temple. "I just hit them in the temple. If you hit them there just right, it'll be an instant K.O." she explained.

"A-ah, I see..." he replied.

Mahiro hadn't forgotten about the first two men she'd attacked. One had a dislodged kneecap and the other was still playing dead. She kicked the playing dead one.

"Oi, so tell me where your hideout is. If you don't tell me by the time I count to three, I'll kill you," she said a playful smile on her face.

The yakuza member turned his head around to spit at Mahiro but missed, the sticky yellow wad, landing a few inches away from her feet.

"Fuck you," he said.

"One." Mahiro flipped the safety off smoothly, already aiming the gun at the man's face.

"I ain't gonna' tell you nothin' you fucking brat. Go on and shoot me if you can," he sneered, showing yellow crooked teeth.

"Two." Mahiro shot the ground, centimeters away from his precious jewels. "That's the wrong answer, mister. Tell me where your base is or I'll have fun shooting at your nut sacks next. I've got what, sixteen bullets left in this magazine? Maybe less?"

"I-"

"Three." Her forefinger pressed down just slightly on the trigger.

"St-st-stop! I'll tell you where! It's at the old warehouse in the east side of Namimori! It's warehouse B-21! Please don't shoot!" he cried.

"Good boy," Mahiro said before smacking his temple with the glock. "Now one more to go." She turned back towards the boy who stiffened up. Mahiro ignored him and instead grabbed onto the last conscious yakuza. The man that she'd kicked in the knee.

"Aniki will kill you, you dumb ass fuck," was the last thing he said before Mahiro kicked him in the temple.

"K.O. Mahiro wins!" she cheered, fist pumping into the air as if she was in Street Fighter. She might as well be with all her street fighting experience.

"Y-y-you just beat up a bunch of yakuza members..." the auburn haired boy stuttered out.

"Oh right, you're still here," noted Mahiro. She flipped the safety on again before slipping it into her waistband, unnoticeable by her sweatshirt.

"Y-Y-You-!" he pointed at her, his voice filled with incredulity and fear.

Mahiro sighed. Really now. Was she that scary that she had him almost wetting his pants? She reached a hand into her pockets while the other one reached for him. He shrank back but decided better on it and waited for whatever Mahiro had in mind for him.

She patted his head, trying to calm him.

"Here," she offered him a chocolate bar. "I've got somewhere I need to be so hurry up and go on home. I don't know how you got those guys chasing after you but it's best you leave."

"I-I-" the boy was so shocked by her actions that he didn't know what to do until she'd retracted her hand and placed the chocolate bar into his hands.

"I'm Hisagi Mahiro. Stay out of trouble, okay?" she winked, before running off to where the yakuza had told her where their base was.

"A-aa.. I'm Shoichi Irie..." he said, watching her braids fly behind her. He eyed the chocolate bar, Godiva, before opening it and taking a bite out of it. It was a half melted but it was good nonetheless.

Hisagi Mahiro.

She was scary, no doubt about it. But she'd turned out to be kind? Shoichi frowned, remembering how he had reacted. Sure he had been scared to death with her waving a gun around and kicking yakuza ass but he should have at least thanked her for saving him.

He heard a groan from one of the men lying at his feet, alerting him that he ought to get home soon. Next time he saw her again, he'd surely thank her no matter how scared he was.

* * *

They were fucked. They were so fucked.

The Yakuza had overwhelmed them out on the street with their sheer numbers, and had taken them back to an abandoned building. Tied and helpless, the boys could only wait for whatever the Yakuza wanted from them. _Whatever_, they wanted. Like making them into fish cakes, or ramen, or just throwing them into the river! Tsuna turned pale. He _really_ wanted to kick himself for being so clumsy. Who's clumsy enough to actually flip someone off when trying to put their hand into a fist?!

Right. Tsuna was; that was the whole reason why they were in this predicament. Currently, he was trying to reach for the cell phone in his back pocket. He'd had about five text messages in the last twenty minutes and at least three or four calls. He couldn't help but sighed in relief that his phone had been put on vibrate or else the yakuza would've already taken it away from him. For once in his life, he'd actually gotten lucky.

"Oi, Matsuda check out what fuzz head's got in his hands," a large and stout man with beady black eyes and pig like nose ordered.

_Le fuck._ Kansai voice muttered.

"The hell do I have to listen to you for, eh Honda? You just want to watch me feel this kid up don't you, you damn sicko," the man named Matsuda replied.

"I'm your damn senior, so do it you little shit." Matsuda flipped him off. "Don't make me report you to Aniki."

"Damn fucking little bitch," Tsuna heard Matsuda mutter under his breath as he stalked over to Tsuna to yank the cell phone out of his hands.

"Don't take Juudaime's things!" Gokudera protested but was silenced with a punch to the gut.

"G-Gokudera-san!" Tsuna panicked. Yamamoto looked grim. All three of the middle schoolers sported bruises and cuts all over.

"I-I'm okay, Juudaime," Gokudera replied weakly. His hands were clenched into fists, frustrated at how much of a failure he was. As the Tenth's right hand man, he should be able to take on these men. They were only the subordinates. There was still a higher boss that needed to be defeated.

Matsuda tossed the phone over to Honda, who grasped onto it like the greedy pig that he was. "Here ya go, fat ass."

"Aa. Well, look at this. Five missed text messages and four missed calls. All from Hisagi Mahiro," Honda licked his lips.

The three boys stiffened in their bonds, especially Tsuna. Why was Mahiro calling him? She'd cut off all ties with him hadn't she?

_Obviously, she's trying to find out where your sorry ass is. _Kansai Voice sneered.

"Let's look at the latest message. Aw, isn't this cute? 'Tsuna where R U? I'm sorry.'" He glanced over at the brunette. "Seems she really does care about you lot. Even better, I say."

"What are you going to do?" demanded Gokudera. That damn woman who dared to hurt his Juudaime's feelings, he wouldn't let her get involved with this. She was incredibly strong and he had no doubt that she could defeat these goons, but it wasn't any of her business. She wasn't part of the family anymore. It wasn't like Gokudera had actually accepted her in the first place but when she'd walked off... something had felt wrong. It was like something was missing. Juudaime had fallen into depression and things just felt... unstable.

Much as Gokudera hated to admit it, they needed her here and in their family. She had the qualifications.

"Shush, you," Honda replied lazily, pressing Tsuna's phone to his ear. "Hello, is this Hisagi Mahiro?"

Gokudera felt Tsuna jump in his seat, pulling on the ropes that binded the three of them together.

"And _who_ the _fuck_ are you?" Mahiro's voice was heard from the other end of the line, Honda having put it on speaker for all the others to hear.

"Well, let's just say I have your little friends here," Honda replied. "I'm guessing that these three are important friends to you right? Especially the pussy looking one?"

There was silence from the other line and then loud raucous laughter, surprising everyone in the room. "Friends? Pussy? I think you've got the wrong impression mister yakuza. Right, they're my friends, but pussy? The only pussies I smell are you and might I mention how fishy you smell?"

Honda's face reddened, a vein popping on his temple. "Do you know who you're talking to?"

"A pussy?" Mahiro replied. The Yakuza men laughed in spite of themselves. A part of Tsuna, the part _not_ crying for his mummy and Reborn, noted this and filed it away later. The power base here was still not consolidated; there were problems within the group as well. A very small, ruthless part of him wondered how he could use this while Mahiro continued; "But seriously dude. Touch 'em and I'll shoot your balls off."

"I've got your friends hostage. If you want to save them then you better hurry on over to-"

"Warehouse B-21?" Mahiro finished for him.

"You-"

"Do you seriously think that I am incapable of tracking down little pissants like you? Bitch, compared to the other gangs I fucked up, yours was the easiest to track down. One threat to your manhood here, one bullet towards your crotch there, and everything comes spilling free. No innuendo intended, although there have been some guys who just _couldn_'_t_ hold it in."

Honda purpled with anger, his hands grasping the phone so tightly in anger. This girl, to make a fool of him just like Anotsu. He will surely destroy her along with the young upstart. "Listen here, you little slut. Get your ass over here in twenty minutes or else I will fuck your little mafia friends up one by one."

"If you bum rape them I will sincerely return the favor by shooting your hairy ass sixteen times, no more and no less. You give them three, I'll give you back _seven_, motherfucker. But not before I chop off your dick and shove it up so far up your ass, you'll be giving yourself a blow job, you ass-munching _clown_."

Tsuna's phone shattered against the pavement into tiny plastic pieces, with Honda fuming in his seat. "That damn little bitch. Once I get my hands on her, I'll make sure I show her what hell is like!"

Tatsuo Ishinori who had stood on the side watching the whole exchange between Honda and the girl on the other end of the phone, shook his head disapprovingly. Honda was being a fool for underestimating the girl. Mahiro Hisagi. There was no doubt that she would defeat Honda. He was nothing but a fat pig hungering for power. Against Anotsu, however, she would undoubtfully lose.

Tsuna was frustrated. Mahiro was coming to save them. He was glad really, that Mahiro didn't hate him but... her coming here... it was dangerous! Mahiro might be strong but there were way too many people for her to handle alone!

_If there's too many then why don't you help her out? _Kansai Voice asked.

_What? How?_

_Do I have to spell everything out for you? If there's too many people for Mahiro to handle alone, you and your rag tag group of mafia wannabes ought to help her out by taking a few down. _

_I.. but... Reborn's not here! I can't do anything without Reborn here to shoot me! _Tsuna wailed, mentally. He was no good. He couldn't do things on his own.

He could hear Kansai Voice tsk-ing. _Remember how I told you that you needed to do something to make Mahiro realize that you're not really a fucking useless piece of shit?_

_I don't think she said _that_..._

_She called you a pathetic, mewling, sodden waste of life and resources. I just shortened it, Kansai style._

Tsuna scowled. _You are _not_ a nice guy_. He continued to try and wriggle out of his ropes.

_Well anyway, here's one way. Try to do this on your own without the use of those bullets._

Tsuna didn't pause in his futile attempts to loosen the ropes. _Oh. I see..._ Tsuna thought grimly, _and how will I do that?_

"Hey, Tsuna. Gokudera." Yamamoto whispered to them.

"What is it baseball freak?"

"Yamamoto?" Tsuna asked.

"Listen, if Mahiro's coming to help us, we've got to do something to lessen the amount of people here. Gokudera, do you have anything to cut the ropes?"

Gokudera glared at Yamamoto. "If I had something don't you think I would have cut us free, idiot?"

"Ahahaha. Well, how about burning the ropes off, eh?" Yamamoto smiled.

Tsuna sweat dropped. "Uh, Yamamoto-san, that would burn us."

_At least it'll help you get free dumbass. Don't look a gift horse in the fucking mouth._ Kansai Voice spat.

_How the hell is _this_ a gift? We're just going to burn ourselves!_

_Well how else are you going to get free-?_

As if right on cue, the doors burst open, revealing the orange sky of the outside world and a figure with a black jacket flapping around his shoulders. Sunlight hit Tsuna's face, reflected from the two gleaming metallic objects in the newcomer's hands.

"For defiling school grounds and attacking the disciplinary committee of Namimori, you will be bitten to death."

Tsuna's jaw dropped in sheer disbelief. He renewed his struggles on the ropes behind his back.

_Aw man, it's the damn orally fixated freak! _Kansai-voice groaned. _As if our asses weren't scrotum deep in the fire already!_

* * *

Mahiro looked down at her cell phone with an inscrutable expression on her face. "Huh." She said, and pocketed her cellphone. From far away, she heard the screech of spinning wheels. A black car came hurtling down the street with black tinted windows followed by two more. Backup?

She wouldn't put it pass the yakuza to try and intercept her. She pulled out the glock from her waist band, flipped off the safety, and then shot at the headlights of the car in the front. She hissed, shaking out her hand. Those guns in the arcade never had a recoil like that! The cars came to a screeching halt, one on each side. From three sides of her, men wearing black suits stepped out, each of them pulling a gun from their suits.

"Do you have any idea whose car you just shot, little girl?"

Mahiro cocked her head. They wore the black suits but... They didn't look like the yakuza. Nope, they weren't even Japanese. From the accent, they were...

"Uh, pasta?" she grinned.

Italian.

"Sorry 'bout that, I thought you were someone else. Now if you don't mind I've got to get going." She moved towards the opening but the men moved over to close the gap.

One of them stepped up. He had black hair, a nice thick mustache, and wore glasses. The wrinkles on his tanned face showed that he smiled often, but the expression on his face was anything but happy. "Why did you shoot at the Chiavarone family's tenth mafia boss?" he questioned with an edge.

Mahiro groaned one hand massaging her nose bridge, the other still waving around the gun. "God damn it. More mafia people. You know, I'm really sick and tired of you people showing up around me. First Reborn and now you people." She eyed the men blocking her way. "I suggest you move. I've got three little boys who need to be saved from an imminent anal invasion."

Suddenly a blonde head popped up from inside the car. "Did you say Reborn?" a smooth baritone voice asked.

"Di-Dino-san, please step back into the car. We'll handle this quickly and then move on to the coordinates Reborn sent us," the man with the glasses and mustache said.

"Aa. It's alright Romario. She seems to know Reborn," the blonde turned towards her, giving her a smile. "Hi, I'm Dino, the tenth mafia boss to the Chiavarone family."

Mahiro had her arms crossed against her chest, boredom written all over her face. "I don't care~!" she sang. "Seriously, I have to go and save some boys' poor asses from some anal probing by an unidentified yakuza alien. I don't care if you're with Reborn or not."

The blonde, Dino laughed nervously. "Ah..hahahaha. So... what's your name?"

Mahiro blinked. "Are you trying to pick me up after I just shot your car? And after I told you that I have to save Tsuna's ass from possible rape?"

Dino's face fell. "Tsuna!? He's going to get raped?" He ordered his men back into the cars, ignoring their protests of how dangerous the girl standing before them was.

"Wow," Mahiro commented on how quickly the men got back into the cars. Dino grabbed onto her arm and began pulling her towards the car. "Whoa. Stranger danger. I have a gun and I will shoot."

Dino replied with a weak smile. "But we have to go and save Tsuna, right? We can't stall any longer. They're in danger, right?"

"Right."

"Besides, it's faster going in a car." He helped her into the car first, although she didn't need the help, and then closed the door behind him after ordering his men to start driving. He smiled. "So what's your name?"

He was cute, Mahiro thought. Hanging around Tomiko at work sure made her start thinking about people's looks, especially guys. That blonde and messy hair. Chocolate, ahem, _chocolate_ brown eyes. He kind of reminded her of Tsuna somehow, in a cute little animal kind of way. "Hisagi Mahiro, but just call me Mahiro." She shook the hand that he'd extended. "Nice to meet you Dino, so how do you know Tsuna and Reborn?"

He was part of the mafia but that didn't clarify anything for Mahiro. She needed straight out answers.

"I'm Tsuna's big brother," he saw the look on Mahiro's face and quickly explained. "Uh, Reborn was my hit man tutor and now that he's tutoring Tsuna that kind of makes him my younger brother."

"I see." Mahiro nodded. Thinking about chocolate had made her want some. Too bad she had given her last one on her to that boy she'd saved earlier. Dino began to talk animatedly about Reborn's training methods which Mahiro only half listened to. No matter how great of a hit man Reborn was, Mahiro still thought that he was doing a half assed job at trying to train Tsuna.

She glanced at Dino with a single thought running through her mind.

_He looks like a host._

* * *

**A/N: Dino really reminds me of a host. Maybe it's just me but, he looks like a host. -.-  
**

**I made way too many jokes about Tsuna's possible rape. I am so sorry but come on, look around you. There are rape fics on fanfiction. net and mature pictures on DA. It's a scary world. I haven't read any or seen any but I've been told there are many, and I tend to avoid them. Rape is just a sad sad thing, who would have their character get raped?  
But continuing the anime, Gokudera is really gay for Tsuna isn't he? :D Lots of fan service to all you girls (and maybe boys?) that are into that kind of thing. I really can't stand the action scenes. There is really no action at all, just a picture of them with fast moving lines in the BG.  
**

**PICTURES: So I've been working on a picture of Mahiro and all my other OCs who will play a role in this fic, but I haven't had time to really come up with them. Mahiro's my favorite but I just can't draw her! So I was wondering if anybody wants to try drawing Mahiro? I would love to see all your versions of her.  
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**When I've finally finished drawing, you guys can go see it on my DA. My username is Taka-pon, so you can go look at my pictures. I'll make sure to tell you guys when I've got them done.  
**

**Thanks: I'd like to thank all my reviewers! We've reached 36 reviews! It may not be a lot compared to other stories, but it makes me very happy. Thanks for reading my story and commenting on it. It means a lot!  
**


	9. It's a splash fest, guys!

**********Disclaimer: KHR belongs to Amano Akira. Mahiro, the Hisagi family, Papa's Tasty Fritters, and Anotsu Takatori belong to sky of c-o-l-o-r-s**

**A/N: Chapter 9 is out! Whoo-hoo! I really ought to work on my homework instead of doing this. :(  
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**Has been BETA-ed  
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**Quick References  
**

******Momokyokai yakuza:** Anotsu Takatori (Boss/ Aniki; has some hate against Masahiro(?) and knows Mahiro(?)), Tatsuo Ishinori (Guy who got his fingers broken by Mahiro in Ch. 6), Honda Isao (Creepy fat dude who is a lolicon), everyone else mentioned with names are not important. Most likely they will die. LOL. :D OH, But there's another SOC (Supporting original character- I made this up, okay?). Remember how I mentioned that Anotsu had a right hand man? Well, here he is!  


* * *

**Chapter 9**

Tsuna stared with wide eyes as Hibari demolished the group of Yakuza in the vicinity. Scattered all around were broken and beaten bodies, some of them trying to escape from the fury of the prefect.

During the commotion, Tsuna and the others had been able to break free from the bonds, luckily by not by lighting it on fire. A large Yakuza had gone after Hibari with a switch blade, and when Hibari had smacked it out of his hand, it had conveniently skidded to where Tsuna and them. Gokudera, seizing this chance, had cut them out of the bonds swiftly.

The warehouse was silent now, save for the moans and groans of Hibari's victims... And an exasperated sigh.

"Incompetence is a sin, I daresay."

All eyes were on the speaker. It was another Yakuza. He was dressed just like all the others, wearing a black suit and white buttoned down collared shirt under. Unlike them however, he did not sport any visible tattoos. His dark hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail, and black rimmed glasses framed his equally dark eyes. His gaze drew from Tsuna to Hibari, and then to someone from behind him, an amused smile on his face.

"Ne, Anotsu I'll be taking care of the tonfa wielding one," he informed.

"Go ahead." From behind him, stepped Anotsu Taketori. He tapped out a cigarette from a box, stuck it between thin, sneering lips and started to rummage in his trench coat for a lighter. "I should have had you deal with this instead." He grumbled.

The herbivore male with glasses chuckled good naturedly. "Well, we are going through a recession, Aniki. It's no wonder that good workers are hard to find."

Hibari regarded the man with clear disdain. Whipping his tonfas around his body, the fifteen year old boy settled into a loose defensive stance. "I don't know who you are," Hibari said softly. "But know that if you get in my way I will bite you to death."

The man paused, smiling genially, he said, "My name is Park Yoo Joon."

Hibari sneered. "Like I care."

The air became charged with his aggression while he waited for the man to respond. Park Yoo Joon stared at the boy from over his glasses. "You've got some nice tonfas there, I daresay." Park Yoo Joon said, lazily cracking his knuckles. "Do you have some kind of Karate background?"

Hibari scowled, his grip tightened imperceptibly on the handles of his tonfas. When the man slipped into his own stance, Hibari's instincts started to tingle. Hibari had never taken any self-defense lessons. He had never bothered to, seeing how he'd spent most of his childhood and life battling opponents weaker than him. What he lacked in training, he made up for with his lightning speed reflexes and ruthlessness. He was a carnivore surrounded by herbivores, a big fish in a small pond-

"Pay attention boy." Hibari's eyes flew wide open. He narrowly parried the hammer fist to his face. A foot slammed viper quick against his abdomen, flickering up into the underside of his jaw. Hibari would have had bitten through his tongue if he hadn't brought up his tonfa in time to help dissipate the force of the blow. The boy was rocked back onto his heels, his tonfas brought protectively over his front.

"You..!" Hibari growled, ignoring the frightened exclamations from the herbivores behind him. "Those were Tae Kwon Do moves just now."

The man with the glasses smiled happily. "That's right, got a problem?" He shifted his weight and lifted his front foot out. "Normally about now I'd just snap your neck with the next kick, but despite Aniki's reservations about your violent ways, I think you'll make a useful addition to our group, I daresay."

Hibari sneered, brandishing his tonfas at his sides. "Why would someone like me want to join an herbivore's herd?"

Hibari saw the kick coming this time, and blocked appropriately. It still nearly forced him down to his knees. Hibari growled, bringing up his other tonfa to slam into the heavy leg pinning his shoulder down. But it was already gone, and his tonfa met the descending fist aimed for the back of his vulnerable neck. Hibari saw the Korean man smirk, "You know," the man said, skipping back on his heels. "That move would have had been more effective if you were using those tonfas correctly I daresay."

_"It seems to me," Mahiro said politely, "that you don't quite know how to handle your own weapon."_

The shutters came down over Hibari's face. He became the emotionless, ruthless tyrant again. "I am going to kill you." Hibari said softly, and then he rushed forward. He began the overwhelming flurry of attacks that had won so many of his past battles before, jabbing and slashing the blunt head of his tonfas against the guard of the sun glassed man.

But Park Yoo Joon merely laughed, using his superior reach and physical strength, to keep the murderous boy at arm's length.

"Why are you using them like that?" The man chuckled, easily parrying them with his hands. "Why are you only going for the midsection when you've got my whole body to work with? Those tonfa aren't just an extension of your knuckles you know, this ain't boxing, I daresay."

"Shut." Hibari sprang up in the air, his foot ripping through the air. His foot connected with a sickening smack alongside the man's skull. "Up." Hibari allowed himself a fierce grin as the man tottered onto his side. That was about the same time Hibari noticed the hard hand wrapped around his ankle, pinning his foot against the man's face.

Behind those glasses, Hibari saw it. A terrifying formless hunger.

Hibari was slammed down hard into the ground as the man fell onto his knees. A fist like an anvil punched him in the face. Hibari tasted blood and got his tonfas up, protecting his head. But the force of the man's one fist, slamming over and over against his tonfas threatened to break past his guard.

"Hibari-san!" Tsuna cried from the sidelines. This was bad! This was _real_ bad! Hibari was getting overwhelmed, and he was the strongest fighter they had! "We need to do something." Tsuna told Gokudera.

Gokudera nodded decisively, already reaching into his shirt for his trusty dynamite. "Shit, they took my dynamite Juudaime!"

Yamamoto lifted up a foot long pipe. A carefree smile floated on his face while he lifted it over his head. "It's alright, I'll just do this" and the baseball player whipped it across the air towards Park Yoo Joon's head.

Tsuna saw the Korean man look up from where he was pummeling Hibari's guard with both hands. And for a split second, Tsuna felt hope that it was going to connect with his skull. A gunshot ripped the air, and the metal pipe scattered uselessly to the Korean man's side. "Ah!?' Tsuna exclaimed, his arm tensing in its sling. "What happened!?"

No, disregarding that. Now was Tsuna's chance to get that Park Yoo Joon guy off of Hibari! Tsuna was halfway across the distance, inwardly wondering why his Kansai Voice was screaming bloody murder at him.

That was about the same time Tsuna heard an ominously familiar metallic click. Tsuna looked up, to see that a scarred Yakuza had his gun trained on him. Less than ten feet separated them, and Tsuna knew that there was only a slight chance that he might miss.

_U R so stpid I'm usng text spe4 undrstnd Ts2na._ Kansai-Voice hissed. _Of crse one of these goons had a gun! They're Yakuza! They _traffic_ weapons for a living!_

_Screaming at me will _not_ change the situation..._ Tsuna thought grimly while feeling his bladder threaten to burst. The Yakuza stared him down, his eyes cold and unfeeling. He held the gun comfortably in his one hand; the other was currently holding a lighter to a fresh cigarette. He cheeks hollowed as he inhaled the smoke. He seemed all too used to holding a gun for Tsuna's comfort. "You aren't the brightest bulb in the light box are you?" He finally said huskily.

_Mahiro advanced across the distance she'd put between them. "You are so fucking stupid Tsuna." She said softly._

Tsuna's eyebrows dropped into a frown. "I-I don't have to be smart t-t-t-to save m-m-m-my f-f-friend-d-d." Tsuna chattered uncontrollably, his skin crawling with fear.

The scary Yakuza smiled. Tsuna bit back his 'hiiie' and also concentrated on keeping his pee inside him. It was a perfectly nice, polite smile that wouldn't look out of place on his school's principle's face. But, the Yakuza's face hadthat_ creepy scar._

"Oh ho, but those are some pretty words from a wet-behind-the-ear brat like you." He said with a sharp gleam in his eyes.

There was a scuffle and then a low grunt before Park Yoo Joon came stumbling into Tsuna's view. "He's _not_ my friend." Tsuna saw a flash of black out the corner of his eye.

Tsuna jerked, but kept his eyes on the gun. "Hi-Hibari-san!" Tsuna couldn't help feeling a little hurt. Sure, Hibari liked to beat him up every chance he got, but Tsuna had hoped that it was more than just that…

Kansai Voice coughed a little in the back of Tsuna's head. _You're sounding a little gay there, my man._

_OH SHUT UP!_

"Let's finish this, you herbivore." Hibari growled to the unfazed Korean yakuza.

"Are you sure boy? I might break you, I daresay."

"Hibari-san, no! You're already badly hurt!" Tsuna protested, the side of his mouth drooping a little into a grimace because Kansai Voice was singing the Japanese version of Queen's Don't Stop Me Now.

Hibari did not even spare him a glance. "Shut up herbivore."

Tsuna's right eyelid twitched. _I hope you choke on your own blood, you fucking orally fixated bastard. _Tsuna thought darkly.

_Oh, yeah! Go pussy-me! _Kansai Voice hesitated and then he crooned, _I wanna make a supersonic man out of you~_

"Shut. Up." Tsuna growled, smacking himself on the head.

"What'd you say _herbivore_?" Hibari hissed, shooting him a venomous glare. Tsuna nearly bit his tongue in half trying to stammer out an apology while the Kansai Voice groaned in his head.

_Oh for Christ's sake Tsuna. You're a boss, stop stammerin' like a girl who's just had her skirt flipped up in front of her idol._

"I said, _shut. Up._" To his horror, his mouth opened of its accord and the Kansai voice drawled out. "If you weren't my friend before, I'm _makin_' you one of mine _now_ Hibari Kyoya."

* * *

Mahiro felt her back hairs raise. "Huh," she said to herself. "I feel like something interesting has just happened to Tsuna, but I don't know _what_."

Dino sweat dropped. "You think he's getting raped?" Dino asked with horror.

"No," Mahiro ground her teeth thoughtfully, wishing for some chocolate right now. "Not rape..."

Dino hammered on the separating glass screen. "Hurry and step on it Romario!"

* * *

Hibari Kyoya had never been so... damn it he needed a thesaurus. Perturbed? Confused? Enraged? Yes, that was it; he was enraged with the herbivore's audacity.

"Herbivore," Hibari wiped away the twin trails of blood streaming from his nostrils. "After I take care of _that_ herbivore, I will personally see to it that I _bite you to death._"

"That's if you can, ne?" The herbivore's face twitched into an unseemly grin.

"Good god, you two aren't going to start sucking each other's cocks are you?" The yakuza scum with a gun pointed at the herbivore drawled. Hibari growled, feeling his arms throbbing, his sides aching, but the realization that there were soon to be more herbivores to bite to death made him feel better.

"_You _shut up too." Hibari glared at him. Hibari ignored the sniggering coming over from the herbivore's side. W-was that herbivore _singing_?

Anotsu just took a long inhale of his cigarette, and blew it in Hibari's direction. "Why don't you come over here and _make_ me kid?" He chuckled.

Park Yoo Joon waved lazily. "That would be unfair, I daresay. In fact, I thought that this tonfa poser was to be _my_ opponent."

Anotsu scratched the bridge of his nose exasperatedly. Really, but Park Yoo Joon could be a real pain whenever he felt that someone was disrespecting martial arts. The Korean gangster had been a rising mixed martial artist until fate had fucked him over, and he'd been set onto the path of the Yakuza where he quickly proved himself as a smart and capable subordinate.

The only problems that Yoo Joon ever caused was when he came across some karate-kid wannabes, kungfu masters wannabes, any sort of free styling pseudo tough guys like Hibari Kyoya. That was when Park Yoo Joon showed his intolerant side, and crushed them out of existence.

Personally, Anotsu felt as if this path suited that violent warmonger a whole lot better than those tame exhibition bouts beneath bright lights.

"Fine, fine." Anotsu returned his attention back to the would-be successor of Mafia royalty. The boy still had that strangely rash expression on his face, his girlish looks alight with a feral grin. But he seemed to notice a change in Anotsu's regard, because he sobered completely beneath Anotsu's attention. Anotsu watched him carefully, "Go ahead and kill him." Anotsu added just to see what the brat would do.

"Don't die~ Hibari-san." Tsuna/Kansai Voice sang annoyingly.

_Oh my god! You've taken over my body! Give it back! Give it BACK! _

Hibari scowled. "Don't _tell_ me what to do _herbivore_." Muscles in his neck popped and cracked while he rolled his head on his neck. Hibari began to bounce on the balls of his feet, keeping his tonfas tucked in nice and tight along his sides.

"Juudaime! You're so awesome!" Gokudera cheered from the sidelines.

"All right Tsuna!" Yamamoto laughed. "Maa, this mafia game sure is interesting huh?"

"Yeaaahh!" Gokudera shouted, punching the air.

"Ahahaha!" Yamamoto guffawed.

Anotsu's scar twitched. "You know what? Change of plans."

Park Yoo Joon recognized the signal and round house kicked Hibari into the the wall. Anotsu strode forward and grabbed Tsuna by the hair and threw him into his friend's arms. "Ow! What the fuck?" Tsuna/Kansai howled. Gokudera reached for the dynamite that weren't there anymore, and Yamamoto continued to 'ahaha'. That is, before the twenty yakuza emerged from the shadows with guns pointed straight at them.

Kansai voice said, _Oh shit_, and suddenly Tsuna was in control again. "Hiiieee!"

Hibari kicked him. "Shut. Up. Herbivore."

"Th-they've got guns pointed at us!" Tsuna shrieked. _Look at what you've done, stupid! _Tsuna shrieked inwardly while cowering._ We're going to get gunned down in some seedy abandoned warehouse because you couldn't keep your mouth shut!_

_Oh please, _Kansai Voice said unsteadily, _this ain't my entire fault. You started this the moment _you_ decided to just go along with that crazy hit man baby's plan. You wanted to be a Mafia boss? Well gettin' gunned down in a seedy warehouse in the prime of your life is a _textbook_ Mafia death. _

Tsunapaled as he noticed brave, brave Gokudera moving in front of him. Yamamoto was not far behind, his easy going smile strained around the edges._ No! This wasn't supposed to happen!_ _All I wanted were friends. _Tsunathought wildly.

He grabbed onto Gokudera and Yamamoto's sleeves, choking back a frightened sob when they shook him off and shoved him firmly behind them. Tsuna fell back, his hand clenching tight at his side. _That's all I ever wanted, _Tsuna felt his tears burning twin trails down his pale cheeks_. I didn't care how crazy it got with Reborn and his training. As long as I have my friends, I...!_

Tsuna moved forward again, and a tonfa narrowly missed breaking his nose. "Stupid herbivore," Hibari shoved him back, his shoulder slammed painfully into Tsuna's. "You're useless without that baby and his bullets, so just stay back and maybe you'll survive this."

The effeminate, brown haired boy shook his head frantically, snot beginning to drip down onto his upper lip. "No. I can't be the only one to survive this! Y-you guys! You're all kids too! Why are you protecting me?"

Tsuna's girlish face had never looked less masculine, while he choked back his sobs, and tugged at his friend's sleeves like a child. And despite facing certain death, the Vongola sky guardians still had time to feel exasperated with their hapless leader.

Gokudera gave him an impatient look, "Juudaime? Does that mean anything to you? You're going to be the _tenth_ successor of the Vongola family and _we,_" He eyed Hibari suspiciously. "We're your loyal subordinates! We're supposed to protect you!"

Yamamoto chimed in with a laugh. "Yeah Tsuna, besides, we're your friends. Friends should protect each other, don't you think?"

Everyone turned their attention to the stone faced Hibari. Hibari wiped away the blood still trickling down the corner of his split lip. "You herbivores don't seriously expect me to make a speech do you?" He spat irritably. Damn it, how had a simple day of biting herbivores to death turned into this?

Tsuna was sobbing openly now. "I-I'm so sorry guys. I'm so sorry." His hands fisted in his agony. Once again, he'd failed his friends. He'd failed them from the beginning, since he'd allowed them to be drawn into this, this,

_Clusterfuck_? Kansai Voice supplied helpfully. _Furbar_ _situation_? _Mr_. _ShittyshitMcShitShit's pool? _

_You made that last one up, _Tsuna chuckled tearfully.

_Not true,_ Kansai Voice argued. _Mahiro used it to describe one fight with the neighborhood street toughs remember?_

_I remember how just like _these_ guys she refused to leave me behind._ Tsuna rubbed his tears away with the back of his hand. He remembered how proud he'd been. He'd been six years old with less than three months of Mahiro's scrappy street fighting tactics under his belt, and his confidence in himself was higher than it had ever been. So Tsuna had decided that it was time he took on his own tormentors. One at a time of course, but then Tsuna had forgotten the fundamental reason why bullies stay on top for so long.

They _don't _play fair.

In the playground where they'd all humiliated Tsuna at one time or another, twenty of Tsuna's most hardcore tormentors gathered. They were carrying baseball bats and cameras to immortalize his final subjugation; Tsuna didn't know what would of had happened if Mahiro hadn't secretly tagged along that day.

_"Tsuna. As long as you just keep your eyes on my back, everything'll be okay. I hope that soon though, you'll be able to stand by me instead of behind me. We're friends right? So we should always face things head on together, side by side instead of one of us cowering behind the other."_

_Mahiro looked over her shoulder, hand reaching out towards him, grin on her face._

Tsuna closed his eyes, the panicked fear on his face disappearing._ Yeah, you're right Mahiro, friends don't cower behind each other. I'm... Sorry too. _He slipped his arm out of its sling, balled his fists, and stepped out from behind the wall his friends made with their bodies. His arm was still healing; Tsuna could barely keep it in a fist without pain shooting up his left arm. But this pain was still nothing to how Mahiro had looked at him in the parking lot. He never wanted her to look at him like that ever again.

_"Scared Tsuna?" A chubby boy laughed while tugging Tsuna out from behind him._

_Yeah, I'm scared. _Tsuna stepped forward, and then stepped again. He moved slowly, so that Yamamoto and the others wouldn't notice him right away. Distancing himself from his friends because now was his time to use his own strength. _But that just means my brain is working right._

_The health of your brain is highly debatable. _Kansai Voice muttered.

Shut. Up.

"Hey you!" Tsuna called nervously. He locked eyes with the scarred yakuza behind the group of burly, scary looking men. "You! Where's your boss!? I want to challenge him! If I win, he lets my men go free!"

_Shit, what are you doing?_ Kansai voice squawked. _WHAT. ARE. YOU. DOING!?_

"Juudaime! What are you doing!?" Gokudera hissed, trying to snag Tsuna's shirt and drag him back behind them.

"Tsuna!" Yamamoto snapped, for once his easy smile was gone. His face which had been dubbed one of the best looking in Nami-Middle was streaked with sweat and fear. "Tsuna, stop!"

Hibari barreled out from the corner, a ferocious sneer twisting his face. "Herbivore, get back in line before I bite you to death!"

The trio of determined boys converged on Tsuna, dragging him back into their fold. Tsuna fought free, his light brown eyes, always dreamy or frightened, for once alit with a flame that did not spark from a bullet. "Let me go! Hey Anotsu! That's your name right?" Tsuna shouted at the top of his lungs, struggling wildly. "Anotsu! This is between your boss and me! Keep my men outta this!"

Anotsu, the scarred man looked amused. He crossed his arms, and ordered his gun men to stand down. "Brat," Anotsu chuckled, breathing out a solid stream of smoke. "You must be out of your mind to challenge me."

Tsuna registered this new information before the fire flared in him again. This time, he forced himself not to shout. He shrugged free of Hibari, Gokudera, and Yamamoto. He had eyes only for the man who held his friends' fate in his hands. Tsuna swallowed his shrieking nerves, steadied his hands into fist, and gritted his teeth. The fourteen year old Mafia boss might not look much like one, but at least he was no longer screeching like a girl.

_I've got to stay cool, _Tsuna told himself with an inward flinch. _I can't show weakness. I've got to _think_. I can't just do as I always do and react._

"It's a pleasure to meet you, I am Tsunayoshi Sawada." Tsuna said pleasantly.

Inside he was trembling. Inside the weak little boy that a woman named Nana Sawada, and a man named Iemitsu had raised, yet ignored, something was unfurling. Something sharp and hot and lethal. It was the last remnant of the courageous six year old who'd stepped out from behind Mahiro's shadow and fought beside her so long ago.

A new voice bloomed inside of his head, and it said, _these are _my_ friends, _my_ men, this title is _my_ birthright. _Tsuna raised his chin, determination lining his young girlish features. _I'm not going to run away anymore. _

"Now then, about my men..." Tsuna adjusted his tie with his one good hand. His large brown eyes light with suppressed emotion. "I'm sure we can come to an agreement don't you think?"

Tsuna tried for a smile. Anotsu, the Aniki of the Momokyokai sneered right back at him with that cigarette in his mouth.

* * *

Five blocks away from where Tsuna and company were being menaced with guns, the car carrying Dino and Mahiro broke down. Dino sat very, _very_ still while the fourteen year old girl kicked the door open with such violence that the hinges popped off. "Ma-Mahiro," Dino stuttered, smiling weakly.

The twenty two year old man couldn't help his instinctive flinch when she turned back to him. "What. The. Hell." She said evenly, "Is going on?"

Dino hammered on the separating screen between the passenger seats and the front seats. "Ro-Romario! What's going on?"

"It seems that one of the spark plugs have burnt out." Romario observed from the driver's seat.

"How the heck can you tell that from there!?" Dino squawked.

"Ah, well... I might of had forgotten to replace it earlier this week." Romario adjusted his glasses guiltily. He smoothed the steering wheel with his gloved hands, "And now I'll have to find a new replacement door as well." He glared at the fuming girl reproachfully.

Mahiro's eyes flashed dangerously, and both men reached instinctively for their weapons. "We. Don't. Have. Time. For. This." She gritted out. Mahiro's calluses stretched tight over her knuckles as she crossed her arms.

Dino tried to retain his cool while avoiding meeting her crazed eyes. "Ah, well. I'm sure that Reborn is there already to keep a lid on everything." He said lamely.

* * *

A harsh chuckle escaped from Anotsu, he really had to admire the balls on this kid. He hadn't really thought the kid to have _any_ what with how he was shrieking and cowering earlier. But now, standing calm and tall, and begging him for his men's lives, Anotsu thought that it was a real shame that he had to be born a threat.

It was a real _shame_ he was going to have to kill him.

Though, he didn't see _why_ he shouldn't provide his men with a warm up for the Hisagi girl. His subordinate, Park Yoo Joon caught his attention. He was thinking exactly what Anotsu was thinking, only with a lot more bloodshed.

_Well,_ Anotsu sighed, _why not? _

"Listen brat," Anotsu flicked the cigarette out the corner of his mouth. It landed wetly on the concrete floor where Anotsu crushed it into a fine smudge. "I really hate your guts."

Tsuna looked blankly at him. Now that there really was something at stake, the boy was no longer acting like a temperamental fool.

Anotsu... approved. There was nothing like imminent death to bring out a person's true potential. Again he thought about what a waste this boy had had for a life. Anotsu probably could make this boy into something great if he had the time or inclination. Which he didn't, big surprise that.

"Not because it's personal or anything," Anotsu continued pulling out another cigarette from his front pocket. "But just because you were born a competitor. If anything, the real person I've got a bone to pick with is your fucking Gaijin ancestor who, for whatever the fuck reason, decided the pussy in his country wasn't fresh enough, and had to come and fuck some pox ridden whore _here_."

"Ah, well I'm glad that it's not personal." Tsunayoshi said smoothly. He didn't even bat an eyelash that Anotsu had insulted his ancestors. Anotsu hid a smile behind his cigarette. _And now for the lulz_, he thought to himself.

"So about my men," Tsuna prodded while his heart jumped in his throat like toad on crack.

Anotsu nodded seriously. "Yes, I'll let em' go on one condition."

Tsuna fought to keep the hope from his voice, but he was pretty sure he failed when he choked out, "Name it."

"Would you say that those are your _best_ men?" Anotsu watched the boy. He knew that the boy knew that they weren't. His best '_man'_ was probably rushing helter skelter across town to save his ass right now.

Tsunayoshi met Anotsu's steely gaze with eyes of twin flames. "They aren't, but they're what I've got right now. And I'll do my duty as their boss to protect all of them to my last breath."

The gray haired boy sobbed silently into his shirt sleeve, his face showing so much love and pride in his boss, it made Anotsu feel almost sorry for what he was about to do.

"Well, if you wish to free your men," Anotsu continued matter-of-factly, "Then you don't need to defeat _me_, you need to defeat _my_ best men." He made a sharp signal, and three of his toughest, brutal-est, vicious men stepped from the shadows. Including Park Yoo Joon, who readjusted his black rimmed glasses with a polite smile.

Tsuna's brown eyes were like flames, and around his cast and undamaged arm, Anotsu could just see the flickering of sparks. _Well, well._

Anotsu waited to see how the brat would answer, all the while thinking about what the boy had betrayed in his lack of discipline. S_o the rumors about the Vongola's powers were true after all, _He mused._ And if that's true, then the rumors about that Hit man baby with the special bullets being the only thing capable of triggering his true powers must be true as well._

Anotsu rocked back on his heels, his hand bringing back up his gun. "And another thing Tsunayoshi-kun, I expect that this will be a fair fight with no special baby hit-man bullet interference, or I'll have _my_ men turn _yours_ into Swiss cheese, capisce?"

The brat paled, but he nodded. His men were not nearly as silent. The gray haired boy, obviously the most outspoken of them all, was screeching his disapproval. The dark haired boy, Yamamoto something, was quietly but fervently explaining to Tsunayoshi what a bad idea this all was (he'll definitely lose _this_ part of the Mafia game!), and Hibari Kyoya was silently threatening Tsunayoshi with his tonfas.

Yet one of the most virulent was the quietest of them all. The one hidden in the ceiling. Anotsu watched as the innocuously plain smoke bombs dropped down from the ceiling. Almost immediately the room was shrouded in smoke, but Anotsu had prepared for this eventuality. (Anotsu didn't care how supposedly adept a Hit man Reborn was, a baby hit man was still a baby with undeveloped muscles. He'd probably won most of his fights with subterfuge and guerrilla tactics. Well, it just so happened that the Yakuza _excelled_ in subterfuge and guerrilla tactics).

"Infrared goggles on!" Anotsu shouted, slapping his own on. He picked out the scurrying characters immediately thanks to the boot legged Italian government equipment. Anotsu grinned, _bet that burns your britches eh, Gaijin?_ He thought hotly.

"If you move one more step you little fool, I _will_ have my men open fire." Anotsu said lazily as his men's laser scopes pierced the smoke. The four teenage figures froze, and as for the hit man toddler... Anotsu ripped the sniper rifle out of his men's hands, and trained the red dot a foot down from the outline of a spiky bush of hair. Anotsu was just in time too, he could just feel the kiss of steel against his neck.

Anotsu grinned, if you could call it that. It really was no more than the primal baring of teeth an alpha male uses to warn another off his fucking territory. "I've got you." He said softly, triumphantly.

The gun pressed harder against the back of his neck. "No, I've got you." The squeaky, cold voice said to him. "Let go of Tsuna and his subordinates, or I'll kill you and all your men."

The man laughed, long and hard. "Aa-a, you probably will do that anyway if that useless boy over there survives getting his brains splattered across the wall." Anotsu paused as if to consider the dramatic interplay between the gradients of red and gray wiggly bits. "_If_ he survives that is..."

"Put. The. Gun. Down." The baby growled, Anotsu hadn't thought two year olds were capable of growling. People didn't leave their kids around Yakuza after all, so Anotsu wouldn't know.

"Nope, I don't think I will." His lips curled back farther away from his teeth like a Doberman dog confronted with his favorite chewing toy; human flesh. "In fact, I think I'll just end this headache of a day, and just kill you all, nice and tidy."

* * *

"Aw, screw it!" Mahiro shouted. "Just call over one of the other cars and I'll ride with _them_!"

"We can't do that Mahiro!" Dino protested, "It's too dangerous for you to go it alone!"

Mahiro's fist whipped out faster than Dino's whip, and hooked in the front of his patterned t-shirt. She pulled him down to her level, so close she could smell him. "Look at me, Dino." Mahiro ignored the gun Romario held against her side. She stared deep into those warm chocolaty depths and smiled like whenever she dragged Tsuna into fights that alone, he wouldn't be able to win. "Trust me when I say that I can handle myself."

Man, she really wanted some chocolate. The faster she got this over with, the sooner she could go and restock her chocolates. "I'm going first," she said, not waiting to hear Dino's and Romario's reply. She dashed off, her braids a flurry behind her.

"Come on, Romario. We can't let Mahiro go off alone. We've also got to get to Tsuna and the others!" Dino motioned for his men to follow after him.

"Dino, you can't just go rushing in. We'll send some men after her and the others while we wait for back up." Romario explained. They couldn't have their boss burst into a room filled with enemies. As Dino's right hand man, it was his job to make sure that the area has been secured before Dino arrived.

Dino could be... clumsy at times.

* * *

Reborn had never imagined that things would get this hairy so quickly. He'd left Tsuna alone for less than two hours. Two. Hours. What sort of luck did Reborn possess that he'd get ordered to guard someone _this_ incompetent?

"I will kill you." Reborn promised, "And I will do it slowly."

"As you like."

Damn.

Reborn could _probably_ kill the new Momokyokai leader before he pulled the trigger, but... The real problems were his Yakuza subordinates with their own guns trained on Tsuna and his friends. Reborn hadn't found the time to research this man beneath him; he had no idea how much loyalty he inspired in his subordinates.

If Reborn gambled Tsuna's life on this man's death, there was a very real chance that the now leaderless Yakuza would gun down Tsuna and the three boys who would become in time, his elite. He was in a pickle; this sort of situation had never been a problem even when he'd been training Dino. Reborn looked up across the distance, a thoughtful look crossing his face.

Then again, Reborn could always use the Dying Will bullet on Tsuna.

"Wait!" Tsuna cried out.

* * *

When the small cylindrical objects fell from the ceiling, Tsuna immediately knew that in typical Reborn fashion either 1) They were saved, and the combined ineptitude of the Momokyokai Yakuza and shrouding smoke would allow them to escape. Or 2) His appearance meant that things were about to get a whole lot worse and the Dying Will Bullet was about to punch into his skull.

"Juudaime! This is our chance!" Gokudera rasped. In the midst of the smoke and confusion, the gray haired boy tugged Tsuna up onto his feet, and along with the other two boys, raced towards where they thought the exit was.

Tsuna's brain continued to churn out possible scenarios, both positive and negative, involving Reborn. This was about the same time Tsuna saw the red dot on Hibari's black jacket.

_Laser scopes!_ Kansai Voice hissed, but Tsuna was already tackling him to the ground. A strange, elusive, calm had him dodging the tonfa end to his face, and hanging on tight when the fifteen year old boy twisted like a snake beneath him. "What the hell are you doing Herbivore!?" Hibari snarled.

"Saving your life, stay. Down." Tsuna grunted when Hibari's fist clipped him on the side of the head. "Oww." He whined.

"Juudaime!" Gokudera exclaimed. His hands hooked underneath Tsuna's arm, half pulling, half dragging his boss off the older boy. "Now is not the time to be disciplining that guy! We've got to get out of here!"

Tsuna winced as he caught another elbow to the head. "Ow. Ow. Ow." He ended up pinned to the back with a tonfa wedged against his throat. "H-Hibari-san..."

The older boy removed the tonfa from Tsuna's throat with a grunt, and then turned back towards Anotsu and Reborn. Hibari had a sour feeling in his gut. The herbivore scum was just too calm, even with a gun pointed to the back of his head. The proud, would-be cloud guardian would never admit it, but he began to get a feeling that he was a little out of depth with this man.

There was something about the look in his eyes, in the way how he held himself. Hibari might profess to bite people to death, but his beatings always stopped short of the death part. This herbivore staring them down from the wrong side of Reborn's gun, was simultaneously promising death to them, while courting his own demise by Reborn's hands.

Hibari felt the herbivore stiffen beside him. Hibari turned, and saw that there was a red dot flitting right between his eyes.

* * *

Tsuna gulped, he could see it, sort of. It was a flash of red just out the corner of his eyes. Speaking of being able to see, the smoke was beginning to clear, and through it, Tsuna could see who had him in his sights.

It was Anotsu, the Aniki of the Momokyokai. And right behind him was... Reborn! Who was pointing Leon in his direction now, obviously deciding to use the Dying Will Bullet.

_But if he were to do that_, Tsuna thought with horror. _Anotsu will think I breaking my word, and he'll gun down Yamamoto and them! I can't let him do it!_

"WAIT!" Tsuna shouted, waving his hand over his head. "WAIT Reborn!"

* * *

Reborn closed his finger on the trigger, but then he paused. He was having _doubts_ about Tsuna and the Dying Will bullet. He'd heard what Anotsu had promised, and Reborn knew them for the blatant lies they were, but Tsuna could not possibly defeat full grown men without the help of the bullet.

And Anotsu knew that as well.

Reborn's finger tightened, and then slacked off. He couldn't do it, Reborn couldn't shoot the bullet. Reborn, as a man of the Vongola, could not in good conscience, risk the future of his family like this. It was one thing to save the life of a boy puppet that'd shown tiny little signs of greatness, and another, to kill the beginnings of a man.

Reborn knew that that would be what the use of the Dying Will bullets accounted to. One day, Tsuna would grow up as a man who depended on outside influences to stoke his flames, instead of igniting them on his own strength. Tsuna, as the core of the Vongola would make them _all_ weak, and all because Reborn had decided to save the boy when he could have had the man he _would_ have become.

But it would be so much simpler to do it, to use the bullet which Reborn had absolute faith in, instead of entrusting everything to a little boy.

Reborn closed his eyes, blotting out everything except for the look he'd seen on Tsuna's face. It had been a look of determination. It _was_ the beginnings of a true leader, of someone who would no longer be content with the scraps of the world; someone, _uncontrollable_. But then Reborn thought to himself, which would benefit the Vongola family more?

A puppet or a man?

Tsuna's worry and fear was palpable even across the distance. Reborn gazed upon the weak, dirty little boy he'd been sent to guard and tutor. His form was girlish, his features feminine, his temperament _weak_ and _reclining_. Or at least that had been what Reborn had thought before Mahiro Hisagi had returned, and began to change him, little by little.

The memory of her enraged words stung him,

_Mahiro waved towards Reborn. "And you, you're supposed to be teaching Sawada over here how to become a capable Mafia boss. Instead, you're teaching him how to rely on drugs and outside influences! You're about as useless as Sawada is. And I never thought I'd meet someone as useless as him other than his mother."_

Leon warmed beneath his hand, and Reborn turned the muzzle back to Anotsu's neck. Reborn, the man, the loyal servant to the Vongola, smiled_._ He _had_ been somewhat useless recently, hadn't he? He'd been angry because he thought the girl had been trying to usurp his position as Tsuna's mentor, but he himself had not been imparting anything of value to Tsuna anyway.

Reborn nodded to Tsuna, and thought to himself,

_I will trust in you, Tsuna_. _I will trust the person that Mahiro has awakened inside of you._

* * *

Anotsu smiled, his scar tugging at the corner of his cheek gruesomely. The baby hit man had made a decision, and it seemed that he had chosen to let the would-be-heir test himself.

How _wonderful_, the guard dog was throwing his lamb to the wolves.

Anotsu was still holding the sniper rifle trained on Tsuna's forehead. "So, d'you want to give it a try Tsunayoshi-kun?" he said, his eyes meeting briefly with Yoo Joon's, before landing on Tsuna and his little group. "I really do just want to go on ahead and kill you all, but I feel like it would be better to do it when you're all here. We're still missing a person aren't we?"

Tsuna swallowed nervously, but his voice remained clear and steady. "You said, that if I defeated all three of your best men, you'd let my men go right?"

"Right, I said that. But come on, do you seriously think you'll beat them all without the use of your special bullet?" Anotsu smirked at the look on Tsuna's face. "Exactly, it's so impossible that if you actually _do_ do it, I'll let you all go, on my word of honor."

Tsuna nodded determinedly. "I'll do it. But when I win, please leave Namimori."

Anotsu shrugged. "Sure, _if_ you win." He gestured for his men to step forward. "You'll be fighting against One. After him is Two, and then Yoo Joon here."

The Korean man waved.

Tsuna swallowed the lump that formed in his throat. The first two men were enormous and he almost choked when he asked his next question. "One, Two? What's their real names?"

"You don't need to know. They're not important, so One and Two do just fine."

The men known as One and Two, both stood tall and intimidating at six feet four and three hundred pounds of pure muscle. The colorful long sleeved button ups they wore were strained over their barrel chests. They both were missing pinkies.

_Must not of had followed directions too well, these guys._ Kansai Voice muttered.

_Well_, Tsuna thought brightly. _At least he hadn't ordered them to __**not**__ kill me._

"Oh, try not kill him," Anotsu added. "I want to make an example out of him."

One grunted while Two rolled his neck muscles. Yoo Joon smiled.

Tsuna wanted to just shrink back and run away. Come on, he was DAME! But he stopped himself. His knees were shaking and his teeth were chattering, but he forced himself to stand strong. As One lumbered towards him, he fought the urge to beg for his life and run. _Run, run, run! _His fight or flight instincts were kicking in and fleeing seemed to be the prominent instinct.

He forced his hands into fists, trying to calm his breathing. He had to try, no, win against these men. He had to protect his friends because there was no one else to. Mahiro was coming. She was going to come and rescue him like she always did, but this time; he wanted to show her that he wasn't completely useless. Show her that he was not the No Good Tsuna, that everyone called him. That the hopes she had had in him were not false.

"Tuna face, was it?" One grumbled, bloodshot eyes staring him down.

"It's Tsuna. Sawada, Tsuna," Tsuna replied weakly. He put up his fists. "En garde?"

One squinted down at him. "Eh? What'd you call me?"

Tsuna hesitated. "Erm, it means..." He squeaked as the yakuza charged at him.

The fist was like a bear claw, sweeping out of nowhere. Tsuna didn't bother blocking that one. He ducked, and decided to emulate what Hibari did when he fought, go for the body. The fist tangled in the back of his shirt, and Tsuna had a moment of sheer horror before a knee slammed up into his abdomen. Black spots swum in his vision, his knees went watery, vomit was halfway up his throat, and then Tsuna puked. All. Over. The. Front. Of. The. Yakuza.

_Well, that's one way to get an opponent off me,_ Tsuna thought to himself when a fist as big as his face sent him spinning onto the ground.

"Juudaime!" Gokudera screamed, his face going milk white beneath his tan. Yamamoto had to restrain the enraged teen.

"Tsuna!" Yamamoto exclaimed, his handsome face a mask of worried bewilderment. This didn't look fun anymore. Either Tsuna was the best actor ever with a very promising career in live action stunts, or he was getting the stuffing pummeled out of him! But... Tsuna was doing this for them so he and Gokudera couldn't just interfere right? Or was this just part of the role playing game?

Hibari said nothing. His pale, sickly expression said it all. In his role as guardian of Namimori, as the head of the delinquents, and chairman of the disciplinary council, he'd seen blood. But of course he had, you didn't get the title as strongest without breaking a few skin layers, but this... Herbivore was being suicidal! Like a Lemming who jumps off a cliff for no other reason than to see if it could!

"Herbivore!" Hibari's soft voice cut through the jeers and Gokudera's histrionics. The fifteen year old boy jerked his shoulders in acknowledgement. Or at least Hibari assumed it to be acknowledgement and not continuing involuntary dry-heaves. "Say the word, and I'll end your pathetic display."

Tsuna didn't get up fast enough, and so One kicked him again, sending a torrent of foul smelling half-digested puke pooling onto the concrete floor.

"Well, it looks like your student is making one hell of a _splash_ with my man, infant." Anotsu drawled.

Reborn said nothing, he just kept Leon transformed in his hand. His beady black eyes were as cold as shiny river rocks. "When this is over," The 'infant' said, with a man's rage on his face. "I will need a rain slicker to keep your blood off my suit."

"Promises, promises."

* * *

_Ahhh, those bastards. Bantering so casually over my brutal beat down_. Tsuna kept his teeth clenched as punch after punch landed their blow. Pain had become a constant. He was doing his best to duck and weave, but his knees felt like noodles.

_Your best isn't good enough. You will always be Dame-Tsuna. Give up._

_What the fuck!? That ain't me! Shit, I thought I killed you. Tsuna, you pussy, don't liste...!_

His nose gave way with a wet crunch. Tsuna spun on his heel, gagging on a mixture of his blood and drool. He fell onto his hands and knees, his stomach rebelled at the blood, but there was very little left to throw up. A hard foot swung into his side, proving him wrong. He did, in fact, still have enough in his stomach to throw up.

_Get off the ground, I just gotta.._. Tsuna thought to himself amongst the savage cheers and Gokudera's enraged yells. A vicious kick re-broke his already broken arm. Tsuna screamed incoherently. Scrambling on hand and knee's from the assault, Tsuna felt that voice grow stronger.

_Give up. Stay down. He'll stop hurting you if you just stay down. You should never of had tried to be brave and save your friends like this. Forget them. They're useless anyway. You're the only one who really matters. You can find new friends. Let them die and run. Run. RUN._

_No, Tsuna! Don't __listen...! Don't listen to it! _Kansai Voice seemed to grow weaker. _You listened to it before and look what happened! You became a bitch and errand boy for over __seven years__!"_

_It hurts_. Tsuna thought. A thin sticky trail of drool dribbled from between his swollen and bloody lips. One grabbed him. Wrapped his thick, callused, fingers into Tsuna's hair, and lifted him up onto his feet. Through swollen eyelids, Tsuna could just make out the look on One's flat face. Disappointment.

Tsuna grabbed weakly at One's hand, but his grip was like iron. _It hurts._

"Ah, kid. You're so weak." One grumbled. He shook Tsuna hard, like a terrier with a rat in his maw. Tsuna's hand, the uninjured and functioning one, fell to his side.

_You _are_ weak. _The frighteningly familiar voice continued to hiss. _Be a good boy, and maybe he'll leave you alone. Just play dead, and maybe he'll get bored and go after that annoying Gokudera instead, okay?_

Tsuna closed his eyes, and let himself grow limp. Ah, this voice... It sounded like his mo-

_Don't listen! Look at your hands Tsuna! LOOK AT YOUR HANDS!_

"What about my hands..?" Tsuna slurred through a mouthful of swollen and bleeding gums.

One paused, "What?"

_Oh for christ's sake Tsuna! REMEMBER!_

Tsuna frowned, remember what?

_**This!**_

_Tsuna felt a trickle of something hot run down his face. The boys moved further back, "Eww, he's bleeding." Power ranger sneakers said with disgust._

_Tsuna swiped his face with his grubby hands and whimpered at the smear of red. And noticed how his hands, even after being used to protect himself, were the cleanest part of him. Tsuna stared down at them as if he'd never truly seen them before, and felt shame. They were the only part of him without bruises because he'd never ever fought back. Not even when bruised and bleeding like now. His hands were pale, limp, and pathetic just like the rest of the person they were attached to. Dame-Tsuna they called him at school. No good, can't even protect himself from getting hurt. Tsuna felt tears make twin tracks down his face._

"What about yer hands, brat? One's broken, and you can't even make a fist with the other." One scoffed, shaking Tsuna again.

A fist?

_"Do you still know that you're supposed to keep your thumb outside of your fist?" Mahiro asked._

Of course he did.

_Then what are you waiting for? A fucking cookie?_

Tsuna didn't need to look at his hand to see that his fingers, slender, skinny and girlish were curling into his palm, and the thumb, most importantly, remained on the outside.

_**Remember!**_

_"Aren't you ashamed of yourself? Hurting poor Ono-san's boy like that?" Nana scolded, her pretty brown eyes filled with tears and disappointment. She regarded her bruised and bloodied seven year old and shook her head sadly..._ "_He's going to need stitches over his eyebrow! They're even transferring him because they don't want their baby boy in the same school as you! I thought you were a good boy!"_

_**Remember, Tsuna!**_

_There he was, seven years old, his mother squashing the last of his pride in himself. Tsuna sniffed back his tears, large brown eyes emptying of everything. No consciousness to feel shame, no heart to break, no self to abandon. Seven year old Tsuna closed his eyes, shutting out his mother's voice._

_He _closed_ his _eyes_. _

_Ah, I remember now. _Tsuna's eyes flew open here and _now_, and the flames that smoldered in their brown depths could not be called pretty by any stretch of the imagination. A heavy, sickening heat began to waft from Tsuna's body, and One yelped when his hand in Tsuna's hair began to burn.

He dropped Tsuna, and the boy landed lightly on his feet. Calmly, Tsuna examined the back of his hands, even the one attached to the broken arm. They were smooth. Completely smooth.

No marks to show pride, nothing to feel pain, nothing.

_I am _not_ nothing._

Tsuna began to shake.

"What the fuck!?" One yelled. Rage twisted his face into something even uglier than his original face.

"Aa-a, I'm weak." Tsuna said so quietly, no one but himself could of had heard. "But I'll be damned if I'm gonna be the only one bleeding this time."

One lumbered forward, murder in his eyes and evil in his heart. He'd decided in his tiny little brain, that he was going to kill this little firebug twerp. Just, twist, snap, and crack. Bye, bye neck.

And then a tiny little fist slammed so hard into his belly that One doubled over and went to his knees. One turned a purple color. His cheeks bulged. He puked. All over Tsuna's unsteady feet.

Ono finished puking, and then with a deep roar he surged to his feet, yanking up the brown haired boy like a rag doll.

"And~ cut," a voice cut in, crisp and clear, directing the audience's attention to the small figure in front of the warehouse doors that had been flung open during the time that Tsuna was getting punched. Everyone had been so engrossed, even Reborn, that no one had noticed the girl enter the room. Every one of the people in the room had their eyes on the girl who was stupid enough to interfere.

"It's you, you stupid woman!" Gokudera yelled, breaking the silence. "Why the hell did you fucking come here?!"

The girl ignored the angry boy, her dark eyes trained on the man handling her friend. She sauntered slowly and confidently into the Yakuza's den. "Oi," She chuckled, rubbing an eyebrow with a finger. "Drop the boy and tell me one thing. You haven't raped him have you?"

One glared at her, not bothering at all to let go of Tsuna. "The fuck is you? Don't fucking butt in, little girl. Just sit back and watch as I kill this little bitch."

Mahiro paused, her polite smile fading. "Ne, ne. I asked you a question mister, and I'm not in a happy mood. I haven't had any chocolate for at least five hours. I've been running my ass all over town, threatening full grown men who ought to know better than to play street games, and I think that idiot boss of mine is going to dock my pay no matter what he says...! So _ANSWER _the _FUCKING_ question, FUCKTARD!" She finished with a vicious snarl.

Tsuna blanched, and the merciful boy started to wriggle out of One's viselike hold. He'd seen it. He'd seen her hands shaking from chocolate withdrawal at her sides. Oh, yes, it had been seven years, but you don't forget seeing a ten car pileup. You don't forget an earthquake. And you sure as hell don't forget seeing Mahiro Hisagi coming off a chocolate high.

"I said fuck o-"

Mahiro was a blur as she rushed at the man, her foot landing in his face. One dropped Tsuna at the impact but didn't falter. He cracked his neck, eyes on the girl who was several feet shorter than him.

"You-" He began to sneer belligerently. There was a sound, like two hacky sacks slammed against concrete.

One turned a strange, pale color as Mahiro retracted her foot from his family jewels. She aimed another kick at his head, this time towards the temple. She grabbed a hold of his collar as he fell, her hand reaching into his waistband to pull out his pocket knife.

"Wow, this is a pretty nice blade, I say. I wonder how well it cuts." Mahiro whistled in awe, drawing the blade close to One's face and then to his throat. The cold, hard blade pressed up against his throat, drawing blood.

Suddenly, the guns that had been aimed at Tsuna and the others were now aimed at Mahiro. Again, she whistled. She pushed One back, before kicking him hard in the gut. The action caused a trigger happy yakuza to shoot, the bullet grazing Mahiro's arm. She threw the knife at him, and it landed in his shoulder. He screamed, and Mahiro laughed.

"M-Mahi-" Tsuna said weakly, before he was cut off.

"Hisagi Mahiro. It's been a long time. You sure have grown." Mahiro stopped, and focused on the scarred man with Reborn behind him, Leon pointed at his head.

"Let me guess, you're the idiot behind all this."

Anotsu let a smile grace his features. Here she was, she was the last missing person. Now he had all of those little brats here. He could just kill them all and then there would be no one else to threaten his rule but...

Those eyes and that confident smirk on her face. So much like that woman.

"You could say that." He motioned for the yakuza to set down their weapons. They complied, but hesitantly, wary eyes on the girl before them. "So, how would you like to take your boss's place? You've already beaten up One, so how about taking on Two?"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Mahiro asked bluntly.

She had a weird sense of deja vu. Guns pointing everywhere, a knife slicing into people, and loud and chilling laughter.

"If you defeat three of my best men, I'll let you all go and leave you alone," Anotsu explained coolly. "I swear on my word."

"_If you kill that woman, I'll let you all go free. I won't bother the kid at all. My word."_

_Anego laughed. "Your word? Who gives a damn about your word? Once I get the job done, you'll come after me. We scum don't have any values to swear by, you should know this well." A feral grin stretched across her pale face, the fluorescent lighting causing her eyes to shine with a wild light. "But that's exactly why we can kill each other so easily."_

"Who _gives_ a flying cat-fuck about your word? Once you've had your fun, you'll shoot us all, don't deny it," Mahiro heard herself saying. "I'm not dumb enough to actually think that you'll let us all go." She saw how Tsuna shrank a little. "You planned this little get together to get rid of us, so it would all be for nothing if you let us go in the end, wouldn't it?"

Anotsu laughed and shook his head. "Aha. You're exactly like that woman. So cynical and cautious. I really hate your guts."

"Aa. So I've been told many times. It's nothing new," Mahiro replied.

"How about it, eh? If you defeat Two and Yoo Joon here, I'll let you all go. I swear on this scar that that damn woman gave me." He ran his fingers down the side of his face where the scar was, gingerly thinking about the woman who had given him it and the mocking laughter that had come with it. He hated her so much.

Mahiro mulled it over, everything finally clicking in place. It'd been a while since she'd thought about Anego. That scar on his face, Mahiro faintly remembered Anego inflicting it upon him three years back. "Sure."

"Alright, then. You know, I told your boss that it wasn't anything personal, but for you? It's personal."

"Oh cry me a river." She pointed a finger at Tsuna and his group. "You seriously think I'm like those idiots over there who'd follow a weak ass little shrimp like this one here? No one bosses Hisagi Mahiro around. No _one_. Except my mom and dad, of course. But other than that_, no one_. I don't like following orders."

"Again, just like that woman."

"Again. Cry me a fucking river. Hurry up and bring out your best men, Taka-tan," she called out, using the nickname that Anego always called him.

_Taka-tan_. Anotsu's hard face creased into a humorless smile. "I haven't been called by that name in over three years." He said. "I don't really know how I feel about it coming out of your mouth."

Mahiro shrugged. She was the very picture of a bored teenage girl as she played with her braids. "Look at all the fucks I give." She said innocently.

Anotsu stopped smiling and gestured to Two standing by. "Kill her if you can." He ordered.

It was her turn to smile.

Here she was again, grinding the broken pieces of her promise with her mother into the ground. Heat, like the best brandy wound itself through her veins, making her short of breath and jerky. This was what she lived for. To fight and to be fought. To strike to bleed and to be bled, this was... Tsuna's bloody face flashed over her eyes, and Mahiro's smile disappeared, because this was not about her. It was all about Tsuna, her idiotic, inept, _brave_ best friend.

Mahiro watched the large man approach, saw the violence that permeated each and every sense of him. She noted the breadth and strength in his thick forearms and biceps. A bull like this could snap her waist with no effort at all. The man that Tsuna had driven to his knees was about this size.

_Man_... She thought while the behemoth approached. Her hands clenched at her sides, and then she slowly relaxed them. She moved into a karate stance as familiar as breath in her lungs, Renoji Dachi*. Mahiro thought, _Man... I'm so proud of him._

* * *

**Reference: **_  
_

***Renoji Daichi: **Feet are at the shoulder width. The foot in the front is fully frontal (toes facing forward), the rear foot is turned 90 degrees out, and is positioned in such a way that if the front foot is brought back, its heel will touch the heel of the rear foot. Thus the foot print is shaped like the character レ (or letter L). The weight is kept 70% on the rear foot. (From Wikipedia)

Here's what it looks like:

www .shitoryu skills/ stances/ images/ renojis. jpg

eng. tekkenpedia wiki/ images/ 3/ 34/ Asuka_Kazama_-_ Alone_-_ Tekken_6. jpg

Just take out the spaces.

**A/N: So I went back to watch the anime, right at the beginning of the future arc, and I realized how competent this Tsuna is to the Canon one. I was like WHOA! I have to seriously bring down Tsuna's badassery. He's so much stronger in this fic than he is in the Canon, it's sad. I guess I have to start breaking him down to his former shame. This Tsuna with the Kansai Voice, compared to Canon Tsuna is... OVER 9000!**_  
_

**I apologize for any OOC-ness, I'm sure there were some (a lot), but... eh, nothing else to say. Gokudera really does seem to be the type to cry on Tsuna's shoulder. LOL. I actually liked Gokudera in the beginning when he was rude and mean to Tsuna but after the whole dynamite and subordinate thing, I was just like... URF.  
**

**Are you wondering about why there's a Korean guy in the Japanese Yakuza? It's not actually that rare. Most yakuza organizations have Korean-Japanese people in it since they fit the whole outsider thing. Yakuzas are the outsiders of the Japanese society.  
**

**I really like Kim bap. It's like sushi, but with LAMBO! I meant, BEEF! :D**

**Thanks:**I know I don't do this at all, but I'm just really happy how I've hit 41 reviews! REALLY! It's an amazing achievement for me, so thank you** xxOMGgalxx, Sharkdude5, Soul Vrazy, Discoabc, and Akira45 **for your reviews! They mean a lot to me, especially long ones where you tell me what exactly you liked about the chapter. It really inspires me to work hard on the next chapter! Thank you very much!

* * *

**Please review and tell me what you thought about this chapter! Should I level down Tsuna and Kansai Voice?  
**


	10. Anego

**********Disclaimer: KHR belongs to Amano Akira. Mahiro, the Hisagi family, Papa's Tasty Fritters, Anotsu Takatori, and Park Yoo Joon belong to sky of c-o-l-o-r-s**

**A/N: Chapter 10 is out! Finally! It's been more than a month! I'm sorry for the long wait! (_)  
**

**Has been BETA-ed  
**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

In the relative safety of his friends, a small, brown haired boy struggled to breathe. This was made slightly difficult because Tsuna's nose was completely broken, and it hurt just for him to think. He could breathe through his mouth, but that meant that with every humid inhale of breath, the coppery salty taste of his own blood assaulted his senses and gag reflex.

Tsuna groaned, half in revulsion, half in pain as he spat out a hunk of blood and thickening spit.

"M-Mahiro." Tsuna stammered. His eyes were bloodshot and swollen; his right cheek bone where One had clipped with his fist was already purpling with bruised tissues. His lips were split and cut against his teeth. There was a spot of vomit on his collar. His left arm felt like someone had shoved a hot poker down its length. He could barely even move his fingers on that hand anymore.

Tsuna had _never_ felt better.

He could still feel where the skin on his knuckles had been rubbed clean off when he had slammed it into One's belly. It stung like the time he'd fallen off his bike. Mahiro hadn't been there, but he'd gotten back on anyways because he wanted to accomplish something without her help or his mother's. And he _had_ done it, all by himself.

Hot, sweaty hands clasped him under the armpit, and hoisted him onto his feet from where One had dropped him. "Tsuna." Yamamoto chuckled nervously. He half dragged, half pulled him back into the circle of friends. "That was some kind of acting there. You've even got the fake blood and everything."

Tsuna managed to slur through his mouthful of blood. "Huh?"

_Oh, for christ's sake! He still thinks that this is a game?_ Kansai Voice groaned. In pain.

Tsuna frowned, and then winced when even that action caused him pain. _What's wrong? You sound like you're hur..._

_Of course I'm hurt! _Kansai Voice snarled. _I had to fight my own bloody fucking brawl with that Dame-voice inside your brain didn't I? Fuck! Shit! That little bitch voice of your mom fights _dirty_!_

A second pair of hot and sweaty hands grabbed onto him, careful to avoid his injured arm. Tsuna was enveloped in an impromptu group hug with Yamamoto and Gokudera. Tsuna felt, more than saw Gokudera crying into his neck.

His tears were warm.

_Don't call my mom a bitch._ Tsuna managed to think weakly.

_Passive. Aggressive. Bitch. _Kansai Voice bit out.

* * *

Meanwhile, Mahiro grew tired of Two grandstanding to his group of Neanderthal buddies and charged forward. The man stopped laughing with his buddies and braced himself for impact, already his eyes were glazed with arrogance.

Mahiro wanted to see them _glazed_ with a _concussion_.

Mahiro leaped off his knee and slammed her foot up into the underside of his chin. His teeth clacked shut with an audible snap, he stumbled back, stunned. A thrusting sweep with the heel executed to the inside of the knee, and a side thrust kick with full penetration to the floating ribs brought him down onto the ground like a rock as if it were scripted, except there was nothing fake about the low moan of pain Two let out.

Mahiro didn't bother with any fancy grabs or pinning techniques. She simply raised her foot high in the air, and delivered a heavy kick to the back of his head, where the delicate nerve clusters were.

She pulled back at the last second. She didn't want to kill him. Two slumped, a pool of drool gathering beneath his head. Mahiro grabbed him by the back of the shirt, and rolled him onto his back. She raised his eyelids, and checked his pulse, just to make sure he wasn't dead.

"Well then," said Mahiro after she was satisfied. She glared at Anotsu from over her shoulder. "You got any more small fries to serve up on a platter?"

Yoo Joon vibrated like a tuning fork at Anotsu's side. Heat poured off the Korean man like a furnace. Anotsu fought the juvenile instinct to roll his eyes at Yoo Joon's transparent eagerness. "I doubt that you will find this punk here so easy to beat, Hisagi." Anotsu nodded acquiescent to the man, a warning gleaming in his dark eyes.

Yoo Joon smirked.

Mahiro watched the man approach, her body language alert and wary. She'd immediately fallen back into Renoji-Dachi, a fact that did not escape the attention of Park Yoo Joon.

"You're quite the interesting girl, I daresay." He stated while slipping into the fluid, rocking stance of Tae Kwon Do.

"So I've been told." Mahiro replied lazily.

Park Yoo's eyes gleamed beneath the lenses of his glasses. "Even though your Karate is unpolished, and interspersed with freestyle elements, I acknowledge you as a worthy opponent. Because of that, I feel that we ought to have some rules for this bout."

"Um, okay." Mahiro frowned, "What sort of rules?"

Yoo Joon smiled pleasantly, and disregarded the dark looks he was receiving from his Boss. "There are only two rules I feel we must follow, and that is that we cannot step outside of the ring, and if, at any time we are unable to continue, one of us can tap out. Now then," Park Yoo inclined his head in a respectful nod. "I am Park Yoo Joon. I will be your opponent today."

Mahiro sighed with exasperation. She presented herself, and bowed from the waist."Mahiro Hisagi, now can we get on with it already?"

"One moment," Yoo Joon gestured to some of the men, "We must set up the ring first, I daresay."

Mahiro's temple started to throb while scowling Yakuza grunts started to arrange empty cardboard boxes around them and laying down red tape in a makeshift ring. When the last box was situated to Yoo Joon's satisfaction, Mahiro snapped. "All right, are you happy now?"

"Not quite, I daresay." Yoo Joon grinned, and that was Mahiro's only warning before he attacked. His heel cut through the air like a knife, and Mahiro just barely managed to evade it. Park Yoo spun on his heel, rabbit kicking in descending order from head, chest, to belly. Mahiro moved, her hands coming up and parrying away the blows, but she could feel how the force behind the strikes nearly lifted her off her own feet.

Mahiro caught his leg against her side, went low and slammed her shoulder against his pelvis, attempting to knock him off balance, but the fucker was so _heavy_! Park Yoo's torso telegraphed his move, and Mahiro let go of his leg, to bring up her forearm against the knee strike to her temple.

This blow did knock her back. Several feet. Mahiro went down to her knees, dizzy. She'd managed to block, but it had still rung her bell. There was no time to reflect, he was already attacking.

_Low kick to the face, the fucker is trying to knock me out_. She thought grimly. Mahiro rolled to avoid the can-can kicks, ending up on her side. She leaped up from the ground. Her hand caught onto the sleeve of his shirt, and Mahiro shifted in midair, bringing her knee against his smug face. Warm flesh met her kneecap, it was his hand.

The_ bastard_, Mahiro grinned. He'd brought up his guard just in time to block.

She landed lightly on the ground, already following up with a vicious back jab to the back of his right knee.

Yoo Joon would of had buckled, but he recovered quickly, turning the weak leg into a spinning back kick that would have taken off her head if Mahiro hadn't laid flat against the ground, and kicked up from her prone position into a handstand. Her sneakered foot caught his jaw in an almost Capoeira fighting move.

Park Yoo Joon aimed his knee at the Mahiro's temple. She brought up her arms to block the attack and stumbled back by the force of the kick, dropping to one knee. Had she been a moment slower, she would've already been knocked out.

Park Yoo Joon, she was slowly being pushed back.

Mahiro did a handstand, her foot catching Yoo Joon's jaw. The Korean caught hold of her foot, and then swung her into stacks of cardboard boxes piled upon each other. She landed with a loud crash.

"Mahiro!" Tsuna yelled, worry evident in his voice. Mahiro jerked in acknowledgement, but she was too busy dodging the rapid fire kicks Yoo Joon was delivering with such crisp expertise.

Hibari bit back a loud snarl. "Idiot herbivore. Don't distract her!"

Tsuna whirled to face him, his brown eyes large and frightened against his pale face. The blood had already started to pool beneath his eyes, giving him the appearance of a raccoon. Black, reddish streaks covered his mouth, and continued to drip down onto his collar. Hibari half expected the timid herbivore to stammer an apology, but instead he just nodded curtly.

"Sorry." Tsuna said evenly. "I'm really and truly sorry for dragging you guys into this. I just want you all to know, that if we get out of this, I'd fully understand if you guys forget about all of this, and pretend you were never involved with the mafia, with me, or Reborn."

Well, Hibari had gotten the apology part of his prediction right but…Hibari felt a vein start to pulse at his temple. _Really, the arrogance of this herbivore was just…_ Damn it, Hibari _really_ needed that thesaurus. "Listen to me herbivore," Hibari said with cold fury. "I am the Tyrant of Namimori. You are not capable of _dragging me,_ period."

As if the herbivore had the power to make Hibari do anything he did not already wish to. The gall of him. Hibari would have to remember to bite him to death after he was finished with that woman.

Meanwhile, Mahiro was trying to remember why she was in a pile of boxes.

A foot tore through the cardboard boxes like they owed Yoo Joon money, and Mahiro rolled out of the way with a startled gasp. Cardboard and duct tape gave way in the path of Mahiro's scrambling. Yoo Joon followed mercilessly, his long legs dominating the distance with rapid kicks and jumps.

Mahiro had never fought anyone like this before. She got the feeling that he was _really_ trying to kill her. How _fun_. Mahiro scrambled onto her feet, just managing to deflect a ridge-hand away from her temple with the back of her forearm. Yoo Joon pivoted on his heel. He was rearing to strike like an abused draft horse. Mahiro's eyes followed the movement of his torso and dodged the spin kick he aimed for her head by ducking like a mongoose confronted by a cobra strike.

She sprang away from him, her guard up. Yoo Joon paused, his dark eyes gleaming with interest.

"You _are_ talented, I daresay." Yoo Joon panted. Sweat gleamed on both sides of his face, "Not one of my kicks have landed on you as of yet. You seem to be more than familiar with fighting against a Tae Kwon Do practitioner."

Mahiro's face held a gleam of dark humor. "Yes well," She shifted her weight onto her front leg, slowly bringing up her hands parallel against her body. "You get all kinds of types in the capital."

"One would imagine so, I daresay." Yoo Joon agreed. He too, brought up his hands up to his midsection, his legs parallel to his shoulders. "I am going to use the entirety of my strength now." He warned softly.

Hidden away in the corner Tsuna's latent hyper concentration frizzed on and off. If the hyper concentration was like a faulty connection, then right now, it had just flickered on long enough to hear Yoo Joon's warning as if he'd just shouted it from across the room.

"Eeeeehh!?" Tsuna shouted through blood and drool. "You mean that you weren't fighting for real!?"

"Juudaime, please!"Gokudera scolded while pulling the bloody boy back, "Don't push yourself!"

"Gokudera!" Tsuna complained, while he was hauled back as unceremoniously as a wayward kitten.

Yamamoto laughed, but the firm hold he had on Tsuna's shoulders was anything but light. Yamamoto was not going to take another chance with his reckless friend's safety.

"Actually, it was me Tsuna."

Tsuna squinted through his swollen eyes, "Oh, sorry." He said lamely. Tsuna tried to shrug off Yamamoto's grasp, but found that when he did that, his freshly broken arm screamed bloody murder at him. "Oww."

He was scared for Mahiro. He'd never seen Mahiro struggle like this before against an opponent. Wh-What if Mahiro loses? No! Tsuna shook in denial, that won't happen. That definitely won't happen! Because Mahiro, to him, Mahiro... Mahiro was... Unbeatable...!

That's right! He nodded decisively; Mahiro definitely couldn't lose because she was the strongest person he knew besides Hibari. And she'd already proven that she was something even _stronger_ than Hibari!

He _believed_ in her.

* * *

Mahiro blew out her breath, feeling the heat rush into her eyes and limbs. He was going to use the entirety of his power? Well, it was about time Mahiro stopped playing as well.

...

Oh, who was she kidding? This guy was going to be tough to beat. Mahiro sniffed dismissively, and brought up her fists. She glanced around her quickly, taking in all the red tape around her. She'd already broken the first barrier, the cardboard boxes, and had been so close to stepping outside of the line. It had been only luck that she'd somehow managed to slow down her descent. Now, if she could only get that guy to step out of the ring.

"Pay attention." The Korean said, throwing a kick for Mahiro's head.

Mahiro brought her arms up to protect herself... and winced when Yoo Joon's leg caught her in the side, sending her flying. The bastard had faked that kick to the head. Mahiro grimaced, her ribs feeling sore. Somewhere off in the room, she could hear Tsuna gasp and bite back a worried yell of her name. She wasn't paying any attention to him though. All of her attention was on the Korean stalking towards her with a predatory smile on his thin lips.

Mahiro pushed herself up on one hand, getting back into stance. Her side was growing numb, but she ignored it. Her welfare meant nothing; what mattered now were Tsuna, Gokudera, Yamamoto, and Hibari.

Well, not Hibari. He could go die for all she cared.

She really wished that she could say that for real…

She'd said before that she wasn't a hero, but here she was now, being the epitome of one. Here she was, saving the damsels in distress from imminent danger, putting her life at stake for them, and fighting for an ideal. Shit, all that was missing was the cape and tights.

"_Hiro, listen well, alright? I love you really I do, but all those principles and honorable stuff don't mean shit in a world like this. Those lofty ideals of yours are nothing __**but **__ideals. It'll be nice if they could come true but," Anego waved a hand towards the dank and dirty alleyway, cigarette butts, condom wrappers, trash, and broken bottles littering everywhere. Several unconscious and bleeding men lay beaten and broken on the gravel drenched with their blood. "This is reality Hiro, and nothing's gonna' change it anytime soon."_

"_I'll make it change," a young Mahiro said, hands fisted at her sides."I'll make it change. I won't let my ideals be just that, I'll see them through."_

_Anego ruffled Mahiro's short hair, grinning. "Well, that's just cute, Hiro. However, things like that are hard to keep in a scum ridden world like this."_

Mahiro stumbled back, blocking another of Yoo Joon's powerful kicks. She'd never really liked Tae Kwon Do. It reminded her too much of cock fights with all those flashy kicks. But the power behind the kicks! Man, Mahiro was envious. There was only so much strength that Mahiro had and to be fighting against someone with strong ass kicks was really... Sucky.

"Are you going to just keep staying on the defense? I thought you were more interesting than that." Yoo Joon sighed, not at all letting up with his attacks.

"Well, it's better to defend than rushing at an opponent, don't you think?" Mahiro replied, out of breath. Too many times had she seen some idiot rush at their opponent, not at all trying to evade or defend their attacks at all. IDIOT. She'd always wanted to shout, Why don't you _dodge_?

"I see. You sure are more competent than many of the other people I've fought, I daresay."

"Huh." Mahiro glanced at the red lines again, gears turning in her mind. The only way for her to win was to knock him out, kill him, or make him step outside of the ring. Killing him was out of the question and knocking him out was too. Her short legs couldn't reach him, and she wasn't fast enough to fake kicks like him. More than likely, he'd just grab onto her ankle again, and then send her crashing over the red lines. So getting him to step out of the ring was her only option.

She'd need to go on the offense for this. Maybe if she had Hibari's stupid tonfas, this would be easier. She glanced over at his direction, only to see him glaring at her with his arms crossed against his chest.

How _effeminate_ of him. Yup, everything would be so much better with his tonfas but knowing him so far, he'd be a bitch about it. It wasn't like having a weapon was going to help her much. She just knew how to handle tonfas a little bit better than that idiot.

Mahiro got back into her Renoji-Dachi stance, hands open instead of fisted. She took a deep breath before exhaling and focused her attention on the man she had to defeat.

"Are you ready to fight for real now, I daresay?" Yoo Joon asked.

Mahiro didn't answer; instead, she lunged at him. She aimed her fist at his abdomen, faking it to go for his knee instead. He saw through it, and kicked her away, but Mahiro was already out of reach.

Mahiro was strong. Of course she was to have won so many street fights, but she was only stronger than most female and males. Her strength was nothing compared to a practiced martial artist like the one before her, strength couldn't help her in this fight, maybe just a little, but not enough to win. Winning was all that mattered here. To win, she would need to rely on her speed. If she couldn't be stronger than Yoo Joon, she'd have to be faster even if it was just a little.

Her breath hissed out from between her pursed lips, she tore across the distance. Ducking and spinning past devastating whip like kicks, her fists like heavy rock assailing his defenses. Yoo Joon was forced finally onto his defensive, her speed and agility requiring the Korean to actually put up a resistance.

_What a fantastic little jewel we've found here in the muck_. Yoo Joon thought to himself, parrying the lightning fast strikes. Mahiro swore, and she leapt into the air, her wiry arm ramming through an opening in his guard to punch him in the eye.

In that split second, Mahiro felt a leap of hope. _Finally! I got him_! Beneath her knuckles, she felt his skin giving way. A crack spider webbed across his lenses, and one baleful eye regarded her thoughtfully.

_Hm_. It seemed to say and then Mahiro was rolling under a vicious leg swing. Yoo Joon switched to his other leg, bouncing lightly on his heels while he advanced.

"You actually landed a hit this time," the Korean commented, his glasses off kilter from Mahiro's punch. "Is that all?" Faster than Mahiro's eyes could follow, he kicked her in the abdomen, sending her flying across the ring.

"MAHIRO!" Tsuna yelled.

Mahiro stuck out a palm to catch herself and get back up. She had landed somewhere a few inches away from the red tape. Mahiro had the wind knocked out of her, she couldn't get up even if she tried, her arms were like jelly, and her core was shaken. She could barely breathe. She choked out a glob of blood, spitting it out on the cement.

She cradled her abdomen, trying to get her breath back so she could get back up and fight again. This wasn't over yet. She could vaguely see Yoo Joon stalk slowly towards her, fixing his glasses, and taking his sweet time getting to her.

"STOP MAHIRO! We'll change places. You don't have to fight anymore, I'll take over for you!" she could hear Tsuna screaming worriedly in the background.

"Juudaime, you can't! You're more injured than she is! I'll take her spot instead! Don't worry!"Gokudera tried to reassure Tsuna.

Mahiro started to giggle. A soft and quiet giggle that quickly escalated to something deranged.

"Are you alright? I didn't kick you too hard, I daresay."

Mahiro held up one finger, convulsing with laughter. "H-hang on...! Tee-hee-hee!"

Tsuna and her switching places? What the hell was this; some kind of fake ass wrestler show? That was the most ridiculous thing she'd heard all day. If anyone was going to have to fight this guy, it'd have to be her. Tsuna, Gokudera, and Yamamoto weren't going to cut it. Neither would Hibari, for that matter. They all seemed to think this was some kind of game, Yamamoto especially. None of them had ever been in a life or death situation such as this, Mahiro could tell as much from the looks on their faces.

Hibari? Well, he was a rock face so how the hell should she know?

It was times like this that Mahiro wondered why she didn't follow Anego's way of dealing with problems.

_1. If they annoy you, kill them._

_2. If they get in your way, kill them._

_3. If you're just bored, kill them._

_4. Just kill 'em_

Right, because she had _principles_. There was a reason why she was who she was instead of being a copy of Anego and that was because of her principles and ideals. Fights were all fun and games until someone died. That's when shit hit the fan and things got real.

Well, how real was this for her? Was she going to die yet?

_It doesn't hurt._

Mahiro grinned humorlessly_._

Mahiro clambered up to her feet shakily, one hand still clutching her abdomen. The pain she felt was nothing compared to Tsuna's. Sure Mahiro had one or two bruised ribs, maybe a couple broken, but she'd become used to pain. Pain was nothing but salt on the meat of life, remember? Tsuna's meat of life was barely salted, he wasn't used to pain.

She remembered the time he'd been tackled by a cute little puppy that had just wanted to play with him. He'd gotten scared and cried like a wuss before his dad and some old dude came outside and picked him up. That was a few days before she'd met him, and at the time, she'd thought, "I'll whack this idiot into shape."

"I'm glad to see that you won't go down that easily." Yoo Joon smiled. He had waited patiently for her to finish having her break down.

Mahiro shrugged, sighing wearily. "Of course. I can't just lose, now can I? There are lives at stake here."

"Impressive, I daresay."

"I daresay you need to stop saying 'I daresay.'"

"It's a habit, I daresay."

Mahiro shrugged again, being way past words at this point. Instead, she bared her teeth like a cornered rat, her eyes gleaming beneath the lights like off a homemade shiv. She put up her hands again, no karate stance now, just plain streetwise protect-my-head muscle memory.

Yoo Joon exploded forward. His legs were like swinging oak trees aiming for her head. Mahiro weaved and ducked, her blood roared in her ears, her small scarred fists rap-tap-tapping here and there, trying to find an opening in the flurry of kicks Yoo Joon was throwing like there was no tomorrow.

Yoo Joon spun and Mahiro narrowly avoided the spin kick, darting around him to strike his back. She was met with a back kick that exploded against her guard, and threatened to shatter her forearms. Mahiro spun with the force of the blow, a part of her acknowledging the pain, the rest of her descending with the spin. She aimed for the back of his knee, realizing that a Tae Kwon Do practitioner's greatest strength and weakness was in their legs.

Mahiro didn't realize it, but what she'd just used in that instant was a textbook perfect, Hapkido low spinning sweep kick. And it connected with devastatingly bone jarring impact.

Yoo Joon was swept onto his side like a felled log, falling over Mahiro's hip like a drunk. Mahiro decided to help him on his way. She grabbed one of the arms the Korean man had thrown out on instinct to break his fall, and in a smooth circular movement, twisted him into a sprawling pretzel of pain. She kept control of his wrist, while her other hand grabbed the collar of his shirt, and tossed him over her hip again.

This time the Korean man was ready for her, and landed in a crouch. He reeled her in with his powerful arms, pinning her hand to his wrist with his other. Mahiro grinned. Jerking back with all her strength, she used the energy raised from that motion to jump in the air and kick him in the chest, breaking his grip on her. She landed lightly on her feet, but couldn't block against the lightning fast kick to her side.

Mahiro felt her rib bend, and then snap beneath the force of the blow. Mahiro gritted her teeth and rode out the pain, her own slim leg whipping up and out against the side of his thigh. She blocked the fist aimed for the side of her face with the back of her forearm, her sneakers squeaking against the concrete floor while Yoo Joon pushed her back with his punishing kicks and punches. Mahiro landed an open handed blow against Yoo Joon's throat, but she'd been too far to put enough force to make it count.

_No, that wasn't it_, Mahiro realized. _She just wasn't strong enough to beat him in a contest of brawn. _

Yoo Joon hissed in pain, his lips were twisted into a fierce grimace but the fierce joy in his face was a powerful and shining light. A powerful leg was already spinning through the air to club her across the face. The bright, hot flash of pain preceded the warm gush of blood down her upper lip.

Her side hurt like a motherfucker, and her fists, calloused and hard though they may be, was nowhere near the size of Yoo Joon's own kissers. Energy seemed to drain away from her limbs, exhaustion spreading through her body.

She'd fought longer fights than this before. It had only been what, six minutes since they had started? She'd been in fights that lasted about two hours or more. Against Yoo Joon, the stamina that she was so proud of was nothing. She was getting demolished here, and it was only a matter of time before her strength gave out.

_No, I can still do this. _There was no question about it. Mahiro _had_ to win. She steeled herself for his next kick. She had to get the timing right. She had to counter his attacks. She had to be faster than him. If she could only see his attacks, maybe she'd be able to defeat him.

Mahiro forced her body to move and dodge Yoo Joon's fist aimed at her cracked ribs. She spun to avoid it and threw a wild kick. She was too slow. As she brought her leg up, Yoo Joon had just as quickly brought his own up, harshly kicking her in her abdomen.

* * *

"MAHIRO!" Tsuna screamed. The hit that Mahiro took had sounded incredibly loud. While Tsuna watched worriedly, she tried to sit back up, her arms giving out beneath her each time she tried. She coughed out a spurt of blood, loud and hacking. "Mahiro! Mahiro!" he cried, struggling against Yamamoto's and Gokudera's hold on him. He couldn't just watch as his friend was getting pummeled!

"Let go of me!" Tsuna roared, elbowing Gokudera in the chest.

Gokudera gritted his teeth and held on tight. When had his Juudaime become so strong? Gokudera pressed his mouth against his Boss's ear, and hissed frantically. "Stop Juudaime. You musn't interfere, that stupid woman is doing this for you..!"

Tsuna screamed and shoved Gokudera away from him. Only to have Yamamoto put him into a headlock, and force him onto his knees with a grunt. Gokudera knelt down. Disregarding Tsuna's frantically flailing arms, Gokudera grabbed Tsuna's face with both hands and started to squeeze.

"Boss, Boss!" The gray haired teenager said. But his words fell on deaf ears. Tsuna's conscience was screaming louder than Gokudera could ever shout in his face.

He was a horrible friend. He couldn't even do a simple thing as not cower behind her or someone else when things got bad. Mahiro was only human! Who was he to throw expectations upon her? Mahiro couldn't win every fight! She could only do so much. He was too dependent on her, always believing that she would save him in the end just like she always did when they were kids. And she was. Even after he had betrayed her beliefs and disappointed her, she'd still come.

And the self-recriminations went on and on, as did the helpless tears streaming down his face.

Tsuna choked on his tears, his frail body jerking with each brutal sob. "_Mahiro-o-o!" _ He howled.

* * *

Black spots swarmed Mahiro's vision. The pain reverberating through her body was so painful. Every shaky breath she took in sent a shock of pain through her abdomen.

"I applaud you for being able to last this long against me, Hisagi-chan." Mahiro couldn't make out his face but she could hear his footsteps come closer to her. "It's a shame; we'll have to dispose of you. You along with tonfa boy would have made great additions to our forces, I daresay."

Mahiro would've given a sardonic reply if she hadn't felt so much like shit. All she could taste was the coppery taste of blood and some bile that had come up.

_This is it, isn't it? Tsuna and the others... We'll all die here, won't we? _A small voice from inside of Mahiro said. It was the part of her that had accepted defeat_. All that talk, and yet no walk,_ it whispered vindictively. _Always the overconfident girl, now she was at the end of her rope_.

God, it was annoying.

_Shut up. It's not over yet. _Mahiro gritted her teeth, unable to accept her fate. There was no way that she was going to give up. She'd fight until the end, so that she wouldn't have any regrets. She would fight even when her body becomes useless and broken, she'll keep on fighting no matter what. She couldn't lose now. Everything had fallen into place, even though it hadn't gone according to plan. She only needed to hold out just a bit more, just_ a bit and then game over._

"And now for the finishing move," Yoo Joon said with a sigh, bringing up his leg into the air, ready to deliver the decisive move. He stood over Mahiro who was currently resting on one knee, head tilted up towards him. He grinned at the sight that he saw. "It's really such a shame. I like that look in your eyes, but there's no way you're making it out of here alive."

Mahiro grabbed at her side. She felt the pain, she acknowledged it, became it, and then dismissed it.

"_Move with the blow, Mahiro." Her dad said with a guiding hand on her hip. "The next time that kid comes after you don't try and withstand the hit."_

_He turned her gently; one firm hand on her shoulder pressing her down, while one bare foot nudged her foot into the correct stance. "Don't go for the throat yet, see his move in your mind's eye. Don't explode with power, Mahiro, _Scorra come acqua_. Flow like a river."_

He brought his leg straight down over Mahiro's head, like a heavy hammer...

"_Aikido is a defensive martial art. However, it's a martial art that women and girls most excel at because of its techniques." _

_Mahiro, at ten years old with a black eye, grimaced. "Mou~ Dad, that's fine and all, but I don't think any fancy smancy-"_

_Her father backhanded her, but it passed harmlessly over her head as Mahiro dropped to her knees and squealed. She kicked out, "Wh-what are you doing, Dad?"_

"_Like that, Mahiro, exactly like that. Speed baby, that's the power of Aikido. Oh, and the techniques of course."_

"_What are you talking about dad?" Mahiro scowled, throwing a punch at her dad's midsection. Her father moved swiftly to the side and caught her wrist. He bent his youngest daughter's arm until she laid flat against the ground. _

"_Fists are strong Mahiro," Raizo gently pried open her fist, and splayed out her fingers individually. _

"_But sometimes what you finish a fight with isn't one of these, but with the open hand of friendship."Raizo was a tall, broad shouldered man with thin hips and an enchanting smile. His hands were hard and calloused, working man hands. He held them out to his youngest, lines of laughter creasing his face. _

Mahiro watched the leg descend, all the strength leeching away from her body. Almost dreamlike, she pivoted on her heels so his leg passed harmlessly down her front. Yoo Joon smiled delightedly, and threw a hard jab at her bloody and dazed face.

This was the end of the fight already.

Mahiro, at the core of her consciousness, opened her eyes.

"I win." she said softly, and her hands, no longer hard fists, caught Yoo Joon's punch at the wrist. She used Yoo Joon's own momentum against him, and in the smooth circular movements of Aikido, swung him down, and onto his face.

...And _over_ the red line. Surprise registered on Yoo Joon's face right before he laughed.

Mahiro's grip tightened. A very large part of her wanted to break his arm. If there was anything she'd learned during her misspent adolescence on the wild streets of Tokyo, it was that once you'd downed an opponent, you made _sure_ he stayed the fuck down. However, even though it was a little crazy, Mahiro couldn't help but give her dad some credit.

Mahiro let go of her hold on Yoo Joon's arm, despite the fact that from this angle; she was in prime position to tear _all_ those soft and tender ligaments... Yeah… She chuckled, and moved off of the grown man.

_Open hand of friendship, huh?_

"M-Mahiro," she heard Tsuna say almost so quietly, she could barely hear it. "You did it!"

"Y-y-you actually did it, you stupid woman!" exclaimed Gokudera.

She felt a cold and hard object dig into her side uncomfortably. Mahiro tried to stand up, but her legs were like jelly and she fell back down as if she was a newborn fawn learning to stand.

She tried once more and finally steadied herself enough to stand up straight. Her eyes met Takatori's dark gaze, a triumphant smile on her face. "I win, Taka-tan. This means we all get to go home. You promised on Anego's scar."

Takatori was awfully calm. Having a gun pointed at his head and a young little twerp defeating his right hand man was sure to put any hardened boss in a state of fright.

Takatori smirked, because he was a boss who had the _gun_.

"Who's to say that I meant what I said?" He lifted the rifle he'd had aimed at Tsuna's head. "We Yakuza are nothing but trash, the same as those stupid mafia wannabes you're siding with. We don't have any sense of honor. You were an idiot to have trusted my words from the beginning, Hisagi Mahiro."

Mahiro grimaced. "As if I didn't see _that_ coming." The gun had been cold and heavy against the small of her back but now it was warm and familiar in her hands. She held it level in front of her, her eyes gleaming with determination, legs braced wide apart just like her brother Masahiro had taught her.

Takatori lifted an eyebrow and noted dryly. "How interesting, now we _both_ have guns."

"I live to entertain," Mahiro replied equally dryly. Then there was the soft click of the safety catch being switched off. "I told you I was tired of this game, Taka-tan."

Anotsu rolled his eyes. "I think you are forgetting something rather important. You and I not the _only_ ones with guns, you little fool." The yakuza underlings whom had been content to watch the drama unfold before now, all leveled their weapons at the fourteen year old girl standing in the center of the room. "Don't shoot just yet, men." Anotsu ordered, his attention never straying from the girls face. "Before this day is done, girl, I will see you on your knees before me in death _or _surrender, Hisagi."

Mahiro felt a cold drop of sweat roll down the back of her neck. But she smiled really pleasantly. "I really don't give a fuck, Taka-tan. You're letting us all go."

The glock was pointed at Takatori some five yards away. "I doubt you'll be able to hit anything from there. Besides, you don't have the guts." Takatori grinned wolfishly.

A bullet pierced his shoulder, causing Anotsu to drop his gun. He gritted his teeth. The fucker who shot him was so going to get grounded up into fishcakes. He whipped around, a snarl tearing viciously from him. "I told you fuck heads not to shoot!"

"ANOTSU, I'LL KILL YOU!" A fat pig squealed bearing two guns aimed at Takatori.

Before he could shoot off another bullet, one of the guns was shot out of his hands. The fat pig, Honda Isao, spun around to spot the one who had shot him, beady eyes filled with rage and hate. "You _fucking _little bitch! I'm surprised you're not dead yet!"

Mahiro shot him again. She ignored his squeals. It wasn't _hard_. Tsuna could out squeal the average Yamamoto/Gokudera Fan-girls any day of the week.

Takatori glared at her. She reminded him too much of that woman. Anego, she was called. There was nothing at all sisterly about that punk several years his junior. That woman had had everything that Takatori had wanted, and she'd flaunt it in his face, taunting him. In every single thing, she was better than him. He really hated her, and yet he respected her and her fucked up personality.

"Shut up, brat. You don't know anything. Just keep quiet and you might get to leave this place alive."

"Blah, like I'm so scared," Mahiro taunted.

"STOP IGNORING ME!"

In unison, both of them replied, "Shut it, you fat pig!"

"DON'T YOU-!"

"Please shut up, I daresay." said Yoo Joon, right before he kicked him in the head.

Somehow, this supposed kidnap and battle to the death became a reunion? Mahiro and Takatori were bantering now? What the hell just happened?

"You know what? I'll just kill you. You're exactly as that woman, and I'd hate to see what kind of crazy shit you'll do when you reach her age. Both of you are monsters, not giving a fuck for anything and always on a path of destruction."

Mahiro glared. _You're wrong, Taka-tan_. She wanted to say, _Anego and I are two different people. Unlike Anego, I'm not going to do that. Anego's Anego. I'm me_.

Instead, she settled for an always classic retort.

"Aw, fuck off." She sneered. "Last time I checked, my birth certificate said _Hisagi Mahiro,_ motherfucker."

Takatori just yawned. "Indeed? From what I've seen so far, you're on the same path as her. Following her footsteps aren't you? Instead of being involved with the Yakuza however, you're involved with the Italian mafia."

"Shut up." Mahiro growled. She loved her Anego, even after the things she'd done, but that didn't necessarily mean that she wanted to become like her.

"What exactly makes you different from her?"

"I..."

"You said that you won't become another Anego? Then why don't you just die here before you get in too deep with the underworld. It's not all fun and games like your merry band of idiots think it is."

* * *

Reborn was intrigued by their conversation and more than a little miffed that he'd been all but forgotten in the earlier gun stand-off. He'd been right _behind_ that Anotsu damn it! This was ridiculous! Reborn could not wait until he regained his true form; no one took a baby with a gun seriously. And Reborn, despite his threats to all and sundry, did not want to kill anyone just to make a point. When he had arrived in Namimori-chu, he'd assumed that he would be dealing with children and the occasional small town bully, nothing really dangerous from the real world; The _adult_ world.

But it was beginning to look like Namimori-Chu held more secrets than he had thought. This Anego for example, who was she? She seemed to be someone of importance to them, the connection between the two. First Cassowary, and now another dangerous person. Mahiro was just too conveniently surrounded by dangerous people. A shame that there was nothing more he could dig up about her.

Or was there?

His gaze flicked over to the middle schoolers. Tsuna had long reverted back to his original dame state, watching worriedly as Mahiro and Takatori conversed, while Yamamoto and Gokudera assured him that everything would turn out fine. Hibari, Hibari however was silent, keeping his eyes on the so called herbivore that had defeated him some days back.

Reborn smiled inwardly. Mahiro was more useful than he had originally thought her to be. Not only was she street smart and the key to Tsuna's strength, but she'd also happened to capture Hibari's interest. Keep her close, and they'll be able to keep Hibari close. Reborn didn't doubt that Hibari would keep trying to fight her again. Indeed, that harrowing battle between the Korean man and Mahiro only sparked his interest. Here was a person who would give Hibari a challenge.

Takatori shifted forward, walking towards the battered and beat girl. Reborn made no move to stop him, wanting to see what would ensue between the two acquaintances. He did however, keep Leon pointed on the back of the head of Takatori.

"You want to prove that you're not at all like that woman? Well, how about you defeat me? Go ahead and use that gun," proposed Takatori.

Mahiro tired as she was; accepted. "Aw, why the fuck not," She snorted, hawked, and spat. Mahiro glared up from beneath her sweaty bangs, a humorless grin on her face as she continued. "Yeah, I'll defeat you and show you that I'm not the second coming of Anego. The world only needs one in this world, and I don't think I'm suited for that role."

"Huh. Come at me then," said Takatori, getting into fighting stance.

Much to everyone's surprise, Mahiro tossed the gun aside and took on her own stance. "I don't need this," was all she said to the surprised faces.

"MAHIRO! STOP! YOU'RE ALREADY HURT BAD ENOUGH! STOP! YOU MIGHT REALLY DIE THIS TIME!" Tsuna screamed.

Mahiro dug her ear. "Tsuna, shut up. Do you really have so little faith in me?"

"I... No.. Mahiro... But you're hurt!" he replied.

Mahiro smiled wanly, "Pain is nothing but salt on the meat of life, bro."

"I... That doesn't make sense!"

"It makes perfect sense, you idiot boy." Anotsu sneered. "_Your _meat is blander than British cuisine."

Somewhere, far away in the Hetalia universe, England wept over his dinner casserole.

Tsuna frowned, his large brown eyes glittering in his pale face. "Y-you don't know anything! Shut it!" The full grown man, with the wickedly curving scar on his cheek snarled at him, and Tsuna stuttered like a gibbet. "P-please?" He amended.

Anotsu stretched, all of his sinewy muscles rippling beneath his coat. His dark, vicious laughter rang in the silence of the warehouse. He shook off his coat, revealing the dark blood staining his shoulder. "Your friend over there is an idiot." Anotsu jerked his head towards Tsuna, "Now, are you sure that you don't want me to...?"

Mahiro rolled her eyes. "As appealing as that sounds..."

"Mahiro!"

"That would defeat the entire purpose of me coming here." Mahiro finished smoothly.

Anotsu grinned.

Mahiro grinned.

Then they exploded towards each other.

* * *

Anotsu raced towards Mahiro, but really, in his mind's eye... Anotsu dreamed.

He dreamed of a woman with eyes like steel. He dreamed of flames; of pain that sliced through his face, and of laughter that mocked. He dreamed of _her. _Her beauty was as that of a weapon, her grace like that of a garrote wire, her smiles are like daggers.

"_Geez, how long will you chase after my shadow, Taka-tan?"_

He imagined that he could hear her now, her silvery dulcet voice echoing forever in his ears, along with her laughter. He sees himself, as a rash Yankee scowling up at her with his face filleted like tuna. Glaring up, always up at the woman-child known as Sarabuki Ai. And yet she wasn't just a woman, what she _was_ transcended gender.

"_Oi, you" Ai wiped her blade on his shirt. "This is it, you know?" _

"_You bitch!" Anotsu spat, kicking her off him. Warm blood dripped from his face and hand as he tottered to his feet. His other dangled uselessly at his side, broken._

"_That's Anego to you, boy." Ai's eyes were jet black, and seemingly hollow beneath her arched eyebrows. Her cheekbones were high and sculpted her nose wide and flat like a leopard, and her lips were plush slashes of red against her pale yellow skin. She was beautiful like the last gush of blood in a beating heart. Beautiful as the pattern of scars on his back..._

_So beautiful. _

_So horrible._

_Anotsu knew as she stared at him with those empty dark eyes, that he would die. That was... Fine. So long as he took her with him too. Beaten, cut up into shit like he was, Anotsu at nineteen took away the hand holding together his face, and balled it into a fist. _

"_Those guys..." Anotsu laughed roughly, fear simmering in his muscles like a hot pot. "Just what were they thinking when they killed your father? They woke up a fucking monster."_

"_Ara?" Ai tossed back her thick, dark hair. Teeth, yellowed like a tiger's fangs gleamed in the light. "A Monster? You'll hurt my feelings, _boy_." And then she had moved, like liquid darkness with her blade flashing in the fading light._

Enter _now_, Anotsu sees Mahiro's face, but he doesn't really see her. Anotsu punched from the waist, intending to induce some critical head trauma. His eyes were wild with memories; all he really sees is _her_.

All he really sees is that _woman_, laughing in the twilight.

* * *

Mahiro, in her long history on the streets, knew that there was no way in hell she was winning this one. He was fresh, for one. He hadn't been running around like an idiot for another, and he hadn't spent the last twenty or so minutes getting pounded by a crazy Korean kick boxer.

She'd need some kind of fucking miracle to beat - oh, hey, was that a gun behind Anotsu..?

* * *

Ishida Taro, right hand man of the previous Aniki (Mishima Jiro), had had enough of this new _Aniki_. Less than a month ago, after Mishima had foolishly lost to those kids, no, even before that; Ishida had been planning on discarding his pledge to that weak fool and taking the group himself. Mishima's defeat simply... sped up his plans a bit.

But then that opportunistic Anotsu had appeared, and like the rabid stray he was, he'd snatched Ishida's chance right from under his nose! After years of scraping, and bowing to the useless old fool, all the while compiling allies among the younger generation of recruits, all that work and energy! Wasted! In one fell swoop, that Tokyo stray had destroyed his plans to becoming the next boss of the Momokyokai!

But after seeing what this new boss looked like, he'd bade his time, waiting for a chance to dethrone the motherfucker, knowing that this was no clueless Jiro to trick or to challenge head on. He'd told himself to be patient, believing that it could, and probably would take years before he'd proved his loyalty and usefulness enough to move about unnoticed.

He hadn't thought that Anotsu, that vicious dog from Tokyo would make a mistake so fast, so soon. And with the very same _kids_ that he'd cast Mishima out for failing to defeat. Oh, the _irony_. Even if Anotsu survived the bullet Ishida was aiming at his spine, there was no way his reputation would. The ties with the Yamaguchi-gumi that Anotsu was always silently lording over them with would terminate a useless fool like that themselves. _And _they would probably reward whoever did kill him.

Ishida Taro, _boss_ of the Momokyokai.

Oh, he _liked_ the sound of that. He pulled out his gun, and pulled the trigger.

* * *

Shit! It _was_ a gun! Mahiro hissed through her teeth, intercepted the punch with the back of her elbow, turning it aside and then grabbed his wrist with her other hand. She dropped her center of gravity, and with every last muscle in her body, flipped Anotsu over her hip.

The sound of both their bodies hitting the floor disguised the sound of the gunshot. But nothing could disguise the blood spilling out of her shoulder.

Anotsu pulled her down beneath him; his smile was fearsome in his face. "You fool; you don't get into a grappling fight with me-"

Mahiro groaned, her eyes flashing in her drawn and strained face. "_Gun_ you idiot!"

Anotsu frowned, and pulled his hand away from her shoulder. Thick, crimson blood stained his hand and the cuff of his shirt. "You're bleeding..." He remarked.

"Uh, no shit? What gave you that bright idea you _shit_-tard!?"

* * *

Yoo Joon kicked the gun out of Ishida's hands. And the other yakuza little guys swarmed the traitor.

Tsuna and the rest of his friends were racing across the distance, with Tsuna in the lead. "Mahiro!"He yelled, "Mahiro!" He reached her side, tears overflowing from his large eyes and washing the blood down his cheeks to mingle with hers.

Anotsu stared down at the bleeding out girl with an incredulous look on his handsome, scarred face. He placed his hand back over her wound, and clamped down with his hand despite the pain in his shoulder. He could feel his own shoulder wound trickling blood down his arm, to mingle with hers.

Mahiro hissed in pain, but her tired dark eyes never left Anotsu's incredulous expression. "That hurts." She said stiffly, ignoring how Tsuna was going into hysterics at her side.

"I'm stopping the bleeding by applying pressure, you little idiot."

"Don't call me an idiot, idiot. And Tsuna, shut up. It's just a flesh wound, the bullet went right through."

Anotsu checked. "No. It didn't." Anotsu calmly pressed his finger into the hole, and wriggled it around.

Mahiro screamed, her face turning white with pain. She writhed underneath Anotsu's hand, yelling blistering expletives that turned the air blue.

"See, it's in there all right. Not all that deep either." Anotsu nodded absently. "I could probably pop it out with a knife, but this will do. And don't worry; despite the blood on my hands as a gangster, I am _scrupulous_ about cleaning underneath my fingernails..."

"_You crazy fucking bastard!"_ Mahiro shrieked, "That's my fucking shoulder you're finger raping there you _vicious man slut_!"

Anotsu kept up the pressure, casually backhanding Tsuna who had been trying to pull him off of Mahiro with a mixture of sobbing threats and one flailing arm. "Ah, my apologies," he said absently. "I think I'm in shock, you see. I was all set to break your neck because I was having a flash back of Anego carving up my face like a steak, but then you had to ah...! I've got it."

A bloody, misshapen metal slug popped out of the neat hole in her flesh like the world's ugliest blackhead. Right about the same time, Hibari's tonfa slammed into the back of Anotsu's head. Or it would have if Mahiro hadn't kicked up at the exact moment, and diverted the skull fracturing blow with the heel of her shoe.

"Damn it, Hibari." Mahiro complained furiously. "You are _not _making it any easier for me to save your neck here."

Hibari was undeterred, winding up for another blow. His dark eyes were wild with rage. "Herbivore, don't get in my way." He growled.

Anotsu grabbed Gokudera's hands, smacked him across the face when he wouldn't stop gibbering that he had no idea what to do, and forced his hands down on Mahiro's shoulder. Then Anotsu stood up, and with one hand, grabbed Hibari by the face and slammed him into his knee. "It's cute how you pick now to grow a pair kid," Said Anotsu with an emotionless face. "But the next time you come at me from behind, I'll cut you a new anus you hear?"

Hibari wobbled a bit, but despite the blood streaming down the front of his face, he charged again. "Stay away from her, you Yakuza scum!" Hibari snarled. "She is... _My_ prey!"

Almost lazily, Anotsu stepped back to avoid the jab towards his chin and left just enough room for Yoo Joon's high kick to connect with Hibari's face. Hibari crumpled, catching himself on one knee, and staying there. Yoo Joon smiled and grabbed Hibari's head from behind.

"Your orders, Aniki?" He asked pleasantly. Yamamoto came charging at his back, and Yoo Joon mule kicked him in the belly, sending the baseball player flying a solid three feet away from him coughing.

Tsuna struggled to his feet, flames blazing in his eyes. "Let go of him!" He shrieked. "Let go of him! Please!"

Gokudera panted at Mahiro's side, her dark red blood spilling over his hands in a horrifying river of crimson while she steadily cussed the air blue at the turn of events. Hibari's face was slowly turning red from lack of oxygen, Reborn still had Leon pointed at Anotsu, but Tsuna could see shadows creeping behind the hit man toddler. There was no one left to help them. No one.

Tsuna sobbed, his face streaked with tears and blood. He wanted to fall back down onto his knees. He wanted for Mahiro to stop bleeding. He wanted for everything to be different. And that Anotsu guy... That Anotsu guy just watched him impassively with flecks of Mahiro's blood still dotting his cheek. He'd been shocked that Mahiro had done what she did. But that hadn't really changed anything, had it? Anotsu still wanted to kill them, to rid himself of his competitors. But Mahiro, Yamamoto, Gokudera, Reborn, and even Hibari weren't competitors; they were just his friends who stuck up for him even against guys like these.

_I don't want them to die like this. _

"_P-Please..._" Tsuna wailed through gritted teeth. "_Please_ don't kill t-them."

Heat grew in his palms, Tsuna bowed his head. He felt his tears sting his cheeks. He really was going to die today. No one could save him from his own stupidity this time. He was going to _die_.

Heat bloomed inside of him, and lightning shot up into his spine. Tsuna gasped, tears flowing down his face unceasingly as he felt the warmth spread throughout his body. _W-what was this? _A horrible thought occurred to him, and he checked the front of his pants. H-he hadn't... Wet himself had he?

_I don't know._ Kansai Voice grumbled drowsily, _you tell me_. _I'll tell you one thing though, it ain't the Dying Will Flames I'm used to._

_Then... What was it?_

* * *

Anotsu stared at the crying young boy, and felt... Tired. Not of being the bad guy, no, never that, but of just this entire scene in general. He didn't know why he felt this way. After all, he'd faced tableaus like this countless times before. Always there was sobbing, gunshots, begging for their worthless lives, and of course blood. Countless, and countless buckets of blood.

_Her_ blood still stained his hands. And from here, he could see that the bleeding wasn't stopping, no matter how hard the gray haired kid pressed down on the wound. The bullet must of had severed a small artery. Anotsu gestured to Yoo Joon and without a word; his right hand man released the red faced, choking boy.

"Phone."

Yoo Joon handed over his cell phone. Anotsu did not hesitate. He dialed 119 for an ambulance. "Hello, there's a girl here with a gunsh-"

A sneaker flew across the short distance, and smacked him in the face. Anotsu paused, and turned his attention to the pale faced, blood depleted fourteen year old girl, who was currently sitting up on her own and despite the weakness of her voice, her eyes spat daggers at him.

"No." She enunciated slowly, "No hospitals."

Anotsu ignored the fluffy headed boy dashing past him to collapse at her side with a joyful wail.

He watched _her_. Her face was pale, her lips white with pain, her frazzled braids hanging limply over her shoulder. But her eyes _burned_. Anotsu felt like he was staring at the shade of Ai. But Ai, no, that _woman_ had never shown so much life in her expression as this girl.

Always, even as children she'd set herself apart from him, from the _world_. All the games she'd played with him, the ones which would leave him spent and bleeding and _screaming_ with frustration. Even then she was never really _there_. Her eyes were always cold, empty, and so lonely Anotsu could never hope to stop chasing after her.

Even now, with this _shade, _this_ pale imitation _of Ai glaring up at him, Anotsu felt that tug again.

"Sir, please repeat your emergenc-"

_And around and around I go_. Anotsu thought to himself and he terminated the call.

Anotsu walked over to the girl, actively hating, seething at the feeling that something was changing. That something was forged with each step, with each throb of pain in their wounds that mirrored each other's, and the answering drip drop of their blood flowing from their bodies.

The girl, Mahiro glared up at him. Anotsu glared back. "Is there a reason _why_ you want to bleed out in an abandoned warehouse, girl?" Anotsu asked, with only a hint of derision in his expression.

She snarled weakly at him, her teeth clenched tightly behind her whitening lips. She was really losing more blood then she ought to. And Anotsu, despite his decision to kill her along with the rest of those enterprising young upstarts she hung out with, realized that he wished that things could be different. Anotsu slid his hand into his pocket. Long, lean fingers closed around the hilt of his blade.

She should of had let him call the ambulance.

"Unless you want the Hisagi family out in full force," She said slowly, blood loss already starting to affect her consciousness. "You better fucking _believe_ that you ought to call your fucking private doctors. And that is _not_ my shoulder you _fucking_ terrorist!"

Gokudera jerked back with embarrassment staining his cheeks red. "S-Sorry."

Tsuna wailed, and closed his hands over the shoulder wound. "D-d-don't die M-Mahiro-o-o-o!"

Anotsu stared down at her. His hand tightened around the knife. Now, do it now. Anotsu knelt, and brought his head in close. So close, the coppery scent of her blood rose up between them like perfume. Mahiro glared up at him. She had no idea, she couldn't. He could kill her now.

_Do it!_

And then Reborn was heard to heave a big, relieved sigh. "About time, Dino."

"The Chiavarone family is here!" Dino slammed open the door with his whip, and a dozen of his men filed in through the large shipping doors.

Anotsu raised an eyebrow. He noted how disregarding the idiot with the whip, _his_ men carried perfectly functional guns. His grip around the hilt of the blade in his pocket loosened, and then dropped the blade like it was a hot coal.

Well, _fuck_. He thought with only a bit of disappointment, and here _he_ had martial-ed all of his men into this warehouse like sitting ducks with him in the middle. Well, it seems that he had no choice after all.

Anotsu raised his arms up. "We give up." He said blandly, "Go on and take back your idiots. They're giving me a fucking headache."

Dino blinked, and then proved to Anotsu that he might not be a complete retard for bringing a whip to a gunfight after all. "Um, I'd feel better about that surrender if you get your men to lay their guns down..." He said carefully.

Anotsu motioned with his finger, and every one of his men laid down their weapons. "You've my full approval to shoot any of the runners by the way." Anotsu added, and there were three loud pops when three Ishida sympathizers raised their guns instead. They fell to the ground dead.

"Lovely," Anotsu grinned.

"I'm bleeding over here!"

"Mahiro..!" Tsuna sobbed, clamping his hands on her shoulder.

"Shut it, Tsuna," she gritted out.

Dino paled at the sight of all the blood and then motioned to Romario. "Ah, call Doctor Shamal. It'd be bad if we take her to the hospital with a bullet wound."

Romario nodded. But then he hesitated, "We don't have the best relationship with him."

"Ah, it's fine." Said Dino with a careless wave of his whip. "I know that he hates us guys, but Mahiro's a girl, so he'll do it."

"Eeh?" Tsuna sobbed through his tears. "D-Doctor Sh-Shamal? He's coming? Mahiro! Did you hear that? You'll be okay!"

Tsuna shook her thoughtlessly, having forgotten that his hands were still pressed tightly and painfully against her shoulder. Mahiro roared in pain, clubbing Tsuna over the head with her fist. "You _idiot_!"

"S-sorry." Tsuna sniffed. "I-I'm SO-ORR-YYY!" Tsuna wailed.

"Oh, for god's sake!" Mahiro gritted out from between bloodless lips. "Did anyone call Dr. _CAMEL_ _yet_?"

"Oi, stupid woman." interrupted Gokudera. He kept rubbing his hands on his shirt, leaving bloody tracks down his front. "It's Shamal. SHAMAL."

Mahiro glared up at him from her back. Weakly she held up... Her middle finger.

"Ahahaha." Coughed Yamamoto. He had finally gotten back up to his feet with a thin line of red down his chin.

Tsuna sweat dropped. Gokudera looked like he wanted to _strangle _Mahiro! "Mou, Mahiro." Tsuna moaned, still applying pressure to her shoulder. "Please don't pick fights while you're injured!"

"Um," Dino said helpfully. "Dr. Shamal is on his way, so just sit tight, okay Mahiro?"

"He was _being..._ an insensitive... Douche... bag." Mahiro said defensively. She was going into shock.

Gokudera exploded, and the potty mouthed delinquent he had first been introduced as made reappearance. "At least I'm not a crazy bi-" He choked on the word, and slapped at his neck. A mosquito slipped out from between his fingers.

A look of anger darkened his face, when he realized that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't talk.

"Maa, maa." A tall, long legged, shaggy haired Italian man slipped out from the shadows. It was none other, than Dr. Shamal. "You shouldn't call such a sweet young girl names, Gokudera-kun. It's unbefitting of a gentleman."

He knelt at her side, reaching into his old fashioned, black satchel. "Hello, young miss. And what is your name?"

"..." Mahiro said grimly, as she blacked out.

Shamal slapped away Tsuna's hands, and cut the bloody fabric from the wound to get a better look at it. He whistled, and started pulling out drugs. "I _do_ like pragmatic girls." He said absently. He cleaned the area with Betadine, and then pulled out the morphine. "Now, this might sting..."

He injected her with anesthetic, all around her shoulder. Then he sewed her up, right there on the floor of a dirty warehouse. She'd already refused going to the hospital and they couldn't just move her to the Chiavarone's temporary residence, where their doctors and nurses were. That would take too much time. A person with a gunshot wound was supposed to get treatment within ten minutes of the shot. But of course he would know that, _he_ was a _doctor_.

Anotsu stayed long enough to make sure that the idiot girl wasn't going to up and die on him, and then he nodded to Yoo Joon.

He and his men were done here.

"W-wait!"

"Shut it dame-Tsuna." Reborn snapped squeakily, pistol whipping him with Leon. Or at least, he'd intended to. Tsuna caught Leon with his good hand. His attention was focused completely on Anotsu. Fission of surprise went through him, both at the quicksilver action, and the heat he could feel pouring off and out of Tsuna.

There was none of the visible flames of the Dying Will state, but the heat was like a sauna, no, more of a massive bonfire. Untamed, unfocused, it was causing even Leon to be uncomfortable. But just as quickly as Tsuna had caught Leon, he let him go, and Reborn watched with an unsettled feeling in his gut as Tsuna strode past him and towards the Momokyokai's Aniki.

His thin, girlish shoulders were squared. His back was ram-rod straight despite the pain sure to be coursing through his brutalized body.

His next words were shockingly clear, and were also _very_ shockingly un-Tsuna.

"You…" Tsuna used the very impolite version, omae. He said it low, and full of throttled anger. "Show me what you were holding, Anotsu-san."

Anotsu stopped. His right hand man, Yoo Joon was the one who bothered turning. The look of cold disdain on his face made Reborn tighten his grasp on Leon. When Yoo Joon made to start towards Tsuna for his rudeness towards his Aniki, Reborn was ready to kill.

And then Anotsu held up a knife over his shoulder. Almost as an afterthought, Anotsu threw it fast towards Tsuna. Yoo Joon stopped, with a sneer on his face.

Reborn reacted instinctively, but it was Tsuna's hand that which plucked it out of the air as easily as a paper airplane.

Reborn stared hard at his ward, with one word screaming in his mind in bright neon lights.

_Hyper-intuition!_

"You were going to kill her with this." Tsuna said, still in that same low voice.

Reborn swung his attention back to the Momokyokai's Aniki. And _he_ was shaking with silent laughter while he continued to walk away. Like a dog being called to heel, his right hand man followed, shooting Tsuna a look so cold it could have had shattered steel.

"Make sure she gets that, boy." Anotsu called over his shoulder.

Tsuna's brown eyes were so light with rage, they looked nearly amber. "This is not _over_, A-Anotsu!" He spat, as enraged as a soaked cat, and about as intimidating as well. But still, Gokudera, Yamamoto, and to a lesser extent, Hibari gathered at his back.

Anotsu laughter was dark and raspy. "It sure ain't boy." They passed out of the doors, the last of Anotsu retreating words trailed behind him like a heinous stench to Reborn's senses. "It sure ain't."

* * *

In mid surgery, a pretty surgeon with her long dark hair clipped back in a bun stopped, her needle in mid stitch. Sumire Hisagi, the operating surgeon cocked her head to one side, and thought to herself...

My Mahiro-senses are tingling...!

"Hisagi-san!" One of the male nurses cried out quietly, "Why did you stop?"

"Oh, my apologies." She said with a smile, that couldn't be seen behind the face mask that they were all required to wear), "Let's close him up shall we?"

The patient was an overweight Russian man with gunshot wounds and large gashes. Most of the bullets had hit non vital organs, but one had made its way to the man's lungs. Blood had already been pooling up by the time he got the hospital. The gashes had been dealt with quickly but the extraction of the bullets was another matter. The bullets had been embedded deep into the flesh, and it had taken hours to take them out. Luckily, the paramedics had kept the patient's lungs from inflating.

"Hai, Hisagi-san!"

With a few more stitches, the patient's operation was over. The patient was wheeled back to his room for recovery. Sumire pulled the rubber gloves off along with all the other apparels surgeons were supposed to wear during surgery.

After she'd congratulated her fellow surgeons for a job well done, she headed to the locker rooms. Her shift was over. Switching back into her regular clothes she mentally went over the patient's operation and his recovery time. She smiled to herself. He'd be out of the hospital within five months and a half, shorter than the time that it would have taken him to fully recover. Sumire's hands reached up to touch the silver violet, decorating the thin silver chain around her bare throat. It felt warm to the touch, and Sumire imagined she could feel it buzzing.

Nope, wasn't that.

Sumire dropped the little flower and reached into her locker for her cellphone. Another text from Manabu; an update about what's happened on Jun's side in Italy. She sighed.

_I hope Mahiro's found soon. Things'll get hectic once dad finds out._ Sumire thought. She didn't bother thinking about what her mother would do. Knowing her, she was probably the one behind the whole thing. And if she wasn't, she'd still know where exactly Mahiro was. Sumire didn't know the extent of her mother's connections, but she was sure that it was probably enough to bring down a small country.

Where _was_ Mahiro?

* * *

**A/N: **Finally the Yakuza arc is finished. Finally, I can move on to something more lighthearted and fun. More interaction with the canon characters and PTF!

What did you guys think? I love how bad ass Tsuna is at the end, confronting Anotsu about that knife. I still don't like him but, he was pretty cool there.

I haven't got much left to say except I'm incredibly hungry. Anyways bye.

Don't forget to leave a review! Tell me your thoughts on this chapter and what you want me to write about in the coming chapters!

As promised to **blacklightningwolf**, the next chapter will have the Sakura Viewing in it!

Please Review!


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